Guardian Partners Inc. Acquires 2,879 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Guardian Partners increased its Applied Materials stake by 20.2% in the third quarter, adding 2,879 shares to hold 17,148 shares worth approximately $8.77 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.56% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook, with 30 Buy ratings and nine Holds, producing a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $632.70.
• Applied Materials exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.50 in EPS and $9.12 billion in revenue, up 24.8% year over year. The company also declared a $0.53 quarterly dividend, equal to a 0.5% yield.

Guardian Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,148 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,879 shares during the period. Guardian Partners Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harborfront Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Highland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $710.00 price objective (up from $550.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $515.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $683.00 to $641.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $650.00 to $590.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $632.70.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $408.94 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $473.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $487.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $203.40 and a one year high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $324.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total transaction of $465,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,877,960. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total value of $3,594,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,637,780.25. This represents a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a technology company that supplies equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its products help customers fabricate the integrated circuits and other components used in computers, mobile devices, data centers, automobiles and a range of connected technologies.

The company's offerings include systems for materials engineering, wafer fabrication, inspection and process control, along with equipment and services designed to improve manufacturing productivity and yield.

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