Artemis Investment Management LLP Buys Shares of 166,524 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Artemis Investment Management acquired a new stake of 166,524 shares of Applied Materials in Q4, valued at about $42.8 million, with institutional investors now owning roughly 80.56% of the company.
• Applied Materials beat quarterly estimates with $2.38 EPS (vs. $2.21) and $7.01 billion in revenue, set Q2 2026 guidance of 2.44–2.84 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 (annual $2.12, yield ~0.5%).

Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 166,524 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $42,795,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $389.08 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $151.51 and a 1-year high of $420.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The business's fifty day moving average price is $368.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $305.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $308.78 billion, a PE ratio of 39.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.66.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 18.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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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