ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 35.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,551,166 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 406,085 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 0.7% of ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $398,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $26,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 147.2% during the fourth quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,003 shares of company stock valued at $2,678,139. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Applied Materials from $435.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $502.00 price target (up from $454.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday. Twenty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $463.89.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $413.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $328.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.47 and a 52 week high of $448.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $380.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $321.37.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.28%.

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.