Bank of America Corp DE Buys Shares of 7,265,371 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 7.27 million Applied Materials shares in the second quarter, worth approximately $5.25 billion and representing about 0.92% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 80.56% of AMAT.
• Applied Materials reported quarterly earnings of $3.50 per share and revenue of $9.12 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue increased 24.8% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with an overall “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $658.45, although insiders have sold 96,821 shares worth nearly $65.9 million over the past 90 days.

Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,265,371 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,252,863,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.92% of Applied Materials as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Arini Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $7,230,000. Vantage Point Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the second quarter. Vantage Point Financial LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $324,000. Lotus Technology Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $640,000. Finally, Invst LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.0% in the second quarter. Invst LLC now owns 973 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total value 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 represents a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total transaction of $465,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,544 shares in the company, valued at $11,877,960. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,821 shares of company stock worth $65,944,771. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. HSBC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $683.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $658.45.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $424.21 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $510.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $464.89. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.53 and a 12 month high of $739.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $336.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.76 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a global provider of materials engineering solutions used to manufacture semiconductors, displays and other advanced electronic products. The company develops and supplies equipment, services and software that help customers build and improve the performance of chips and display panels.

Its semiconductor products support processes including deposition, etch, patterning, inspection, metrology and materials modification. Applied Materials also provides equipment and services for display manufacturing, including technologies used in producing liquid-crystal and organic light-emitting diode displays, as well as solutions for adjacent markets such as solar and other specialty applications.

Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials serves semiconductor and display manufacturers worldwide through operations, customer-support centers and research and development activities across major technology-producing regions.

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