111 Capital Takes $1.93 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• 111 Capital opened a new position in Applied Materials, buying 7,503 shares worth about $1.93 million in the fourth quarter. Several other institutional investors also increased their stakes, and institutions now own 80.56% of the company.
• Applied Materials reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.86 and revenue of $7.91 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 per share from $0.46.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on AMAT, with multiple firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus. Insider selling was also noted, including transactions by the CAO and a director in late May.

111 Capital bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,503 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,928,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Vestcor Inc lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 52.3% in the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 31,592 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $8,119,000 after buying an additional 10,849 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 401.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 266 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,226 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, OneAscent Family Office LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Family Office LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $453.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a market cap of $359.67 billion, a PE ratio of 42.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $510.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $408.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $342.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.39 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, May 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $470.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total transaction of $116,370.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,461.60. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $507,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,544 shares in the company, valued at $11,944,800. The trade was a 4.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,896 shares of company stock worth $27,135,121. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.

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