Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 751,400 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 141.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,283,410 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 751,400 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.16% of Applied Materials worth $656,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $57,993,650,000 after buying an additional 1,237,685 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 85.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $50,267,184,000 after acquiring an additional 32,018,892 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $5,645,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,876 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,713,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $5,576,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,252,863,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total transaction of $3,594,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,637,780.25. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,877,960. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $720.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings cut Applied Materials from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. New Street Research cut their target price on Applied Materials from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their target price on Applied Materials from $575.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $637.14.

Applied Materials Trading Down 3.7%

AMAT stock opened at $430.01 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $203.40 and a 1-year high of $739.67. The firm has a market cap of $341.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60. The business's 50 day moving average is $483.12 and its 200-day moving average is $485.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

More Applied Materials News

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials unveiled its approximately $5 billion EPIC Center in Sunnyvale, California, described as the world’s largest semiconductor equipment and process-technology research facility. The center, supported by companies including Intel, Micron, SK hynix, and Samsung, is intended to accelerate chip development and strengthen AMAT’s long-term position in advanced manufacturing. Applied Materials opens $5B semiconductor innovation center
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an Outperform rating and set a $600 price target. Other coverage highlights AMAT’s fifth consecutive earnings beat, improving earnings estimates, and what analysts view as attractive upside after the stock’s recent decline. Applied Materials could nearly double within 12 months
• Positive Sentiment: AMAT is being cited as a growth-at-a-reasonable-price semiconductor stock, supported by its broad wafer-fabrication equipment portfolio and expected benefits from expanding chip and AI infrastructure capacity. ASML vs. Applied Materials
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed: some firms remain bullish, while others are conflicted on the technology sector and AMAT specifically. A report also noted that 31 ETFs added AMAT shares, indicating continued institutional interest but not necessarily a near-term catalyst. Analysts conflicted on technology names
• Negative Sentiment: AMAT’s decline followed a six-session losing streak and weakness across chip stocks. Investor Day disclosures, including the company’s optical-inspection expansion and long-term targets, have not yet overcome investor concerns about near-term execution, elevated valuation, and semiconductor-sector volatility. Applied Materials drops during Investor Day

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a global supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat-panel displays and other advanced electronic products. Its technologies help customers build and enhance materials at the nanoscale, supporting processes such as deposition, etching, inspection, metrology and packaging.

The company's offerings include semiconductor manufacturing systems, process-control and inspection equipment, and services designed to improve the performance, productivity and longevity of production equipment.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.