BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• BlueCrest Capital Management initiated a 14,000-share Applied Materials position in the second quarter, worth approximately $10.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.56% of the company.
• Wall Street remains bullish: Applied Materials has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $658.45, with several firms recently raising their targets.
• Applied Materials exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.50 in adjusted EPS and $9.12 billion in revenue, with revenue up 24.8% year over year. However, company insiders sold more than 231,000 shares valued at roughly $146.1 million during the last quarter.

BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 14,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,122,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,589,000. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,005,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 59.0% during the first quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,082,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 183.7% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,073 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,990 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Craig Hallum lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $740.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $658.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total value of $5,547,872.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,326,071.43. This trade represents a 18.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.75, for a total value of $42,587,906.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,695,164 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,006,503,625. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 231,692 shares of company stock valued at $146,114,059 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.8%

AMAT stock opened at $468.85 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $519.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $463.43. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.55 and a fifty-two week high of $739.67. The firm has a market cap of $372.08 billion, a PE ratio of 40.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42.

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

Applied Materials Profile

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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