Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. by 2.3%, owning 270,546 shares valued at approximately $39.26 million after selling 6,380 shares in the first quarter.
• In a recent analyst report, several firms, including Citigroup and Mizuho, lowered their price targets for Applied Materials, while the consensus rating remains a Moderate Buy with a target of $193.88.
• Applied Materials reported a strong financial performance for the quarter, achieving $2.48 EPS and a revenue of $7.30 billion, beating analyst expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 7.7%.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 270,546 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 6,380 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $39,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,608,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 3,407 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 1,031 shares during the period. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems raised its position in Applied Materials by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 138,057 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $22,452,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $193.88.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $164.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.50. The firm has a market cap of $130.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.70. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $182.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.75. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $215.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.93%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.

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