Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in Applied Materials by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 164,948 shares and leaving it with 6.37 million shares valued at about $1.64 billion. Despite the trim, institutional investors still own a large majority of the stock.
• Applied Materials beat earnings and revenue expectations in its latest quarterly report, posting EPS of $2.86 versus the $2.68 estimate and revenue of $7.91 billion versus $7.68 billion expected. The company also lifted its quarterly dividend to $0.53 per share from $0.46.
• Analysts remain bullish on AMAT, with several firms raising price targets after the earnings release, including Wells Fargo, KeyCorp, Cantor Fitzgerald, HSBC, and UBS. The stock currently carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average target price of $465.14.

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,372,419 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 164,948 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.80% of Applied Materials worth $1,637,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Narus Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,592 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Glenview Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 32,935 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $8,464,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $808,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 5,568 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $432.16 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $387.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $326.68. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.47 and a 12-month high of $448.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $342.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.58, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.66.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Applied Materials from $435.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. HSBC initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $517.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Applied Materials from $480.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $465.14.

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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