Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. Has $83.26 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Bristol Gate Capital Partners cut its Applied Materials stake by 22.4% in the fourth quarter, but still held 323,970 shares valued at about $83.26 million. Applied Materials remained its fifth-largest holding and made up 4.8% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Applied Materials posted stronger-than-expected earnings, reporting $2.86 EPS versus estimates of $2.68 on revenue of $7.91 billion, up 11.4% year over year. The company also issued Q3 2026 guidance of $3.16 to $3.56 EPS.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive, with several analysts raising price targets and 27 analysts rating the stock a Buy versus eight Holds. Applied Materials also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.53 per share from $0.46.

Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 22.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 323,970 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 93,489 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises approximately 4.8% of Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $83,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 26.7% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 30.1% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 3,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 59.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $77,383,000 after buying an additional 157,426 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Summit Insights upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America raised their price target on Applied Materials from $465.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $502.00 price target (up from $454.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $465.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock opened at $432.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $387.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $326.06. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.47 and a twelve month high of $448.45. The firm has a market cap of $342.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.58, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.66.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 19.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,003 shares of company stock worth $2,678,139. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials 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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