Ethic Inc. Has $16.71 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. reduced its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. by 5.3%, selling 6,465 shares, resulting in ownership of 114,740 shares valued at approximately $16.7 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 80.56% of Applied Materials, with various firms adjusting their positions in the company recently.
• Applied Materials reported earnings of $2.48 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share.

Ethic Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,740 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 6,465 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $16,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,085,600,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 2,401.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,066,817 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $445,056,000 after purchasing an additional 2,944,193 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 18,402.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,824,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,647,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814,444 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 301.6% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,959,997 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $318,754,000 after buying an additional 1,471,953 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AMAT. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Applied Materials from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $194.84.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of AMAT traded down $0.95 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $162.58. 3,245,383 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,389,716. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $215.70. The firm's fifty day moving average is $184.06 and its 200-day moving average is $166.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 23.88%.The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 21.93%.

Applied Materials Company 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.