10,533 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Bought by Verus Capital Partners LLC

Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 97.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,362 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,533 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $57,993,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,685 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 85.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $50,267,184,000 after purchasing an additional 32,018,892 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,645,344,000 after buying an additional 1,246,876 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,713,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,576,932,000 after buying an additional 1,073,879 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,252,863,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $332.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $444.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $444.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.40 and a 1 year high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The company had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: A rally in chip-equipment shares is lifting AMAT ahead of its fiscal fourth-quarter results, scheduled for November 12. The sector move followed Lam Research’s announcement of a $25 billion share buyback. Article: Applied Materials Stocks Rise as Chip Equipment Rallies Ahead of Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: AI-related equipment demand and growth in advanced packaging are cited as longer-term supports for Applied Materials, despite the recent pullback in chip stocks. Article: AMAT Shares Plunge 30% in a Month: Should You Buy, Sell or Hold?
• Neutral Sentiment: The upcoming results are a key near-term catalyst: investors will assess whether demand and equipment-spending expectations hold up in a more cautious investment environment. Article: Applied Materials Stocks Fall Before a Revenue Test
• Negative Sentiment: The rebound follows a sharp chip-stock sell-off, with investors worried that data-center spending could slow; weak Qualcomm guidance added to sector concerns. AMAT also recently faced pressure after an analyst downgrade. Article: Chip Stock Rout Deepens Article: Applied Materials Stock Falls After Analyst Downgrade

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,877,960. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at $61,637,780.25. This represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Argus set a $600.00 price objective on Applied Materials and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $515.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Applied Materials from $675.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $632.01.

Applied Materials Profile

Applied Materials, Inc develops and supplies equipment, software and services used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its technologies help customers build and process materials at the microscopic scale required for chips and other electronic products.

The company’s offerings include systems for depositing, removing and modifying materials, as well as inspection, measurement and process-control tools. It also provides equipment and services for advanced semiconductor packaging and supports customers with maintenance, upgrades and manufacturing software.

Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials serves semiconductor and display manufacturers around the world.