Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Sells 574,268 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec sold 574,268 shares of Applied Materials, Inc., reducing its stake by 51.8% to 534,347 shares valued at approximately $77.5 million.
• Research firms have given Applied Materials a consensus target price of $193.88, with 17 analysts rating it as a Buy and only 1 as a Sell.
• The company reported a 7.7% year-over-year increase in revenue, with earnings per share of $2.48, surpassing analysts' expectations by $0.12.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lessened its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 51.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 534,347 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 574,268 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.07% of Applied Materials worth $77,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Old Port Advisors lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.5% during the first quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 2,730 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.7% during the first quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 1,506 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.8% during the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.2% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hardy Reed LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the first quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 7,324 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,063,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $193.88.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $161.99 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $215.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.50. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $182.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.77.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The business's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 21.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.

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