Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,765,950 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 70,804 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.22% of Applied Materials worth $475,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.9% in the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $55,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,397 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 82.2% in the third quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $5,512,000 after purchasing an additional 12,132 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 21.8% in the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,531,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.
More Applied Materials News
Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research downgraded Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. KGI Securities upgraded Applied Materials to an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $370.86.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Applied Materials
Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials
In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 28,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Applied Materials Stock Up 5.0%
AMAT opened at $410.82 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.51 and a 12 month high of $420.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market cap of $326.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.66. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $369.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $308.46.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current year.
Applied Materials Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 18.83%.
Applied Materials Company Profile
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Free Report)
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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