Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Sells 24,875 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co has reduced its stake in Applied Materials by 47.2%, selling 24,875 shares and now holding 27,854 shares valued at approximately $4,042,000.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Applied Materials, with investments such as Sciencast Management LP growing its holdings by 600.6%.
• Research analysts have revised their target prices for Applied Materials, ranging from $180 to $230, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $193.88.

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 47.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,854 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 24,875 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 32.3% in the first quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,889 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,580,000 after purchasing an additional 2,661 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 38.3% in the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 469 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $1,479,000. Sciencast Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 600.6% in the first quarter. Sciencast Management LP now owns 24,983 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,626,000 after purchasing an additional 21,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 10.1% in the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,975 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,157,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Summit Insights lowered shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $193.88.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.9%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $162.75 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $164.78. The company has a market cap of $129.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.77. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $215.70.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 21.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.

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