Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 125,765 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,468 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $42,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total transaction of $14,398,392.09. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,184,361.88. This trade represents a 14.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total transaction of $14,704,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,599,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,236,570.46. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $516.89 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $154.46 and a 52-week high of $739.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $410.39 billion, a PE ratio of 48.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $546.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $425.63.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AMAT. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $502.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $599.19.

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.