Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Bought by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Key Points

• Daiwa Securities Group increased its stake in Applied Materials by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 201,342 shares worth about $51.7 million.
• Wall Street remains bullish on AMAT, with analysts including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Susquehanna, and Truist raising price targets; the stock now carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target of $470.13.
• Applied Materials reported better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its dividend to $0.53 per share from $0.46, while shares recently traded near a 52-week high of $510.75.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 201,342 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 9,724 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $51,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 82.2% during the third quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $5,512,000 after purchasing an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 21.8% during the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,288 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $1,531,000. Finally, Avity Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.1% in the third quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 223,211 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $45,700,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. DZ Bank upgraded Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $575.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $470.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,858,461.60. The trade was a 5.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $507,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,944,800. This trade represents a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $502.02 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $407.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $341.53. The company has a market cap of $398.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $154.46 and a 52 week high of $510.75.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.91%.

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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