Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Holdings Decreased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 921,964 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 139,157 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $315,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 218.8% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 102 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,599,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,236,570.46. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $516.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $410.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $739.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $546.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51.

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 company 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus upped their target price on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $570.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $599.19.

Applied Materials 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.