Findlay Park Partners LLP Increases Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Findlay Park Partners LLP lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 77.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 277,860 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 121,060 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for 2.7% of Findlay Park Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Findlay Park Partners LLP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $200,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Harborfront Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $646.00 to $642.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $683.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $659.83.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $484.19 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $384.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.74, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $560.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $453.08. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $154.46 and a 52-week high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The business had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total transaction of $6,335,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 346,642 shares in the company, valued at $219,608,106.26. This represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total transaction of $5,547,872.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,326,071.43. The trade was a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 276,692 shares of company stock valued at $169,030,834 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a U.S.-based supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat panel displays and other advanced materials. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, the company designs and sells capital equipment and related technologies that enable production of integrated circuits, display panels and materials used across the electronics supply chain.

Applied Materials’ offerings include process equipment and factory software that support critical steps in device fabrication, such as deposition, etch, implantation, inspection and metrology, as well as systems for packaging and advanced heterogeneous integration.