Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Purchased by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• EP Wealth Advisors increased its Applied Materials stake by 13% in the second quarter, adding 7,650 shares to own 66,386 shares valued at approximately $48 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.56% of the company.
• Applied Materials reported quarterly EPS of $3.50 and revenue of $9.12 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue rose 24.8% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $659.83 target price. However, insiders sold 276,692 shares worth about $169 million over the past three months.

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 13.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,386 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 7,650 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $47,997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 386.9% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 3,803 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,750,000 after acquiring an additional 3,022 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $347,000. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.2% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 107,507 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $77,728,000 after acquiring an additional 2,292 shares during the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.4% during the second quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 30,770 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $22,247,000 after purchasing an additional 2,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manhattan West Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $375,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total transaction of $6,335,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,608,106.26. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total transaction of $14,704,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,599,843 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,236,570.46. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 276,692 shares of company stock valued at $169,030,834 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $646.00 to $642.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $645.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $659.83.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $484.19 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $560.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $453.08. The company has a market cap of $384.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.74, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $154.46 and a one year high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The company had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

Applied Materials Company 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.

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