PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab Purchases Shares of 465,327 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake of 465,327 shares of Applied Materials for about $120.97 million, representing roughly 0.06% of the company.
• Applied Materials beat Q4 estimates with $2.38 EPS (vs. $2.21 expected) and $7.01 billion in revenue (vs. $6.88 billion), and set Q2 2026 guidance of EPS 2.44–2.84.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 (annualized $2.12, ~0.5% yield), while insiders have sold 12,003 shares totaling about $4.48 million in the past 90 days.

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 465,327 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $120,971,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab owned 0.06% of Applied Materials as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $19,731,523,000 after acquiring an additional 330,197 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 225.4% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,046,057,000 after acquiring an additional 10,305,182 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,751 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 42.6% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,247,838,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,552,132 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,160,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,681,911 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the company'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 transaction, the director owned 28,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,778,624.78. This represents a 12.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.4%

AMAT stock opened at $389.08 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $151.51 and a 1-year high of $420.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $368.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $305.94. The stock has a market cap of $308.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.64.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 21.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. KGI Securities upgraded Applied Materials to an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Summit Insights upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $368.29.

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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