Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stake Boosted by Amundi

Key Points

• Amundi increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. by 15.8%, owning approximately 7.65 million shares valued at over $1 billion after purchasing more during the first quarter.
• Major institutional investments were observed, including Nuveen LLC acquiring a new stake worth over $1 billion and Pacer Advisors Inc. increasing its holdings by 2,401%.
• Applied Materials declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46, with an annualized yield of 1.2%, reflecting a dividend payout ratio of 21.93%.

Amundi raised its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 15.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,656,034 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,046,635 shares during the period. Amundi owned about 0.94% of Applied Materials worth $1,038,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,140,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,995 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,085,600,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,189,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,043,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235,097 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 43.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,573,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $808,853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis Selected Advisers increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 4,993,172 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $724,609,000 after acquiring an additional 280,955 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $180.00 target price (down previously from $190.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Applied Materials to a "hold" rating 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $193.88.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $4.51 on Friday, hitting $162.75. 7,034,707 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,143,077. The stock has a market cap of $129.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm's 50-day moving average is $180.02 and its 200 day moving average is $164.92. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The business's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.93%.

Applied Materials 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.