Intech Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC significantly reduced its stake in Applied Materials, cutting its holdings by 41.8% and now owning 33,307 shares valued at approximately $4.83 million.
• Several large institutional investors, including Ameriprise Financial and Deutsche Bank, have increased their positions in Applied Materials, indicating strong confidence in the company despite recent adjustments from other investors.
• Applied Materials reported better-than-expected earnings for the last quarter with an EPS of $2.48, surpassing consensus estimates of $2.36, alongside a revenue of $7.30 billion, which was also above analysts' expectations.

Intech Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 41.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,307 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 23,914 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,834,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 23.6% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,140,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,995 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 15.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,656,034 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,038,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,635 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth $1,085,600,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 20.7% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,189,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,043,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235,097 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 43.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,573,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $808,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,428 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $192.92.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $167.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.76. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $215.70. The company has a market capitalization of $133.68 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $177.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.72.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 21.93%.

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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