Findlay Park Partners LLP Boosts Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Findlay Park Partners increased its Applied Materials position by 77.2% in the second quarter, adding 121,060 shares to hold 277,860 shares worth approximately $200.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.56% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with 27 Buy ratings, one Strong Buy and five Holds, resulting in a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $659.83 price target. Applied Materials also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $3.50 in EPS and $9.12 billion in revenue.
• Insiders sold 276,692 shares worth $169.0 million over the past three months, including sales by a director and the CEO. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, equivalent to a 0.4% annualized yield.

Findlay Park Partners LLP boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 77.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 277,860 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 121,060 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises 2.7% of Findlay Park Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Findlay Park Partners LLP's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $200,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Harborfront Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on AMAT shares. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $605.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $659.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total transaction of $5,547,872.50. Following the sale, the director owned 40,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,326,071.43. This represents a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total transaction of $14,704,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,599,843 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,176,236,570.46. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 276,692 shares of company stock valued at $169,030,834 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $484.19 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $154.46 and a twelve month high of $739.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $560.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $453.08. The firm has a market cap of $384.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.74, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

About Applied Materials

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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