Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 330,445 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,912,000. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 0.7% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,589,000. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,005,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 59.0% in the 1st quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $1,082,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 183.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,073 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $790,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $461.67 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $550.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $456.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $366.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.80, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $154.46 and a twelve month high of $739.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

Key Applied Materials News

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Semiconductor and AI demand remains strong: Recent coverage highlights Applied Materials’ $9.12 billion third-quarter revenue, up 25% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $3.50, up 41%. Management cited record demand visibility from AI infrastructure, more than 10 new fab projects during the quarter and fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $10.25 billion. The company is also continuing share repurchases and investing $5 billion in its EPIC Center to accelerate semiconductor innovation. The AI Buildout Is Turning Applied Materials Into A Profit Machine
• Positive Sentiment: New board member adds semiconductor expertise: AMAT appointed Akash Palkhiwala, Qualcomm’s CFO and COO, to its board and Audit Committee. His finance, operations and industry experience could strengthen oversight as Applied Materials pursues growth tied to advanced logic, memory and AI chip production. Applied Materials Appoints Akash Palkhiwala to Board of Directors
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market signals elevated uncertainty: A new analysis says options pricing for roughly one year ahead implies a particularly wide potential trading range, extending materially below and above the current level. That suggests investors should expect significant volatility rather than providing a clear directional signal. How Far Applied Materials Stock Can Move In A Year
• Negative Sentiment: CFO share sale may weigh modestly on sentiment: CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 AMAT shares for approximately $3.6 million, reducing his direct holdings by 5.51%. The sale does not alter the company’s operating outlook, but insider selling can create a limited short-term sentiment overhang. SEC Insider Transaction Filing

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $605.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $650.00 to $590.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $700.00 target price (down from $790.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $657.76.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total value of $3,594,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at $61,637,780.25. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,184,361.88. This represents a 14.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 284,192 shares of company stock worth $172,625,209 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Applied Materials

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.