First Manhattan CO. LLC. Buys 224,743 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. by 7.8% during the first quarter, now holding over 3 million shares valued at approximately $448 million.
• Other institutional investors also expanded their positions in Applied Materials, with notable increases from Pacer Advisors Inc. and GAMMA Investing LLC., lifting their holdings significantly in the same period.
• Applied Materials reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $2.48 surpassing analyst estimates of $2.36, indicating a 7.7% increase in revenue year-over-year.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,088,624 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 224,743 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises approximately 1.3% of First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned about 0.38% of Applied Materials worth $448,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 972.2% during the 1st quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5,325.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Disciplina Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 91.5% in the 1st quarter. Disciplina Capital Management LLC now owns 272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $193.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded up $1.99 on Thursday, reaching $158.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,107,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,383,263. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $215.70. 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 stock has a market cap of $126.06 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.77. The firm's 50 day moving average is $180.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.06.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 21.93%.

About Applied Materials

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.