Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Invests $238.91 Million in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 330,445 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $238,912,000. Applied Materials accounts for 0.7% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $12,400,000. Triton Financial Group Inc purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $7,687,000. Strive Financial Group LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 185.2% during the second quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC now owns 904 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,404,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,179,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total value of $14,704,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,599,843 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,236,570.46. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total value of $6,335,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares in the company, valued at $219,608,106.26. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 284,192 shares of company stock worth $172,625,209. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Semiconductor and AI demand remains strong: Recent coverage highlights Applied Materials’ $9.12 billion third-quarter revenue, up 25% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $3.50, up 41%. Management cited record demand visibility from AI infrastructure, more than 10 new fab projects during the quarter and fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $10.25 billion. The company is also continuing share repurchases and investing $5 billion in its EPIC Center to accelerate semiconductor innovation. The AI Buildout Is Turning Applied Materials Into A Profit Machine
• Positive Sentiment: New board member adds semiconductor expertise: AMAT appointed Akash Palkhiwala, Qualcomm’s CFO and COO, to its board and Audit Committee. His finance, operations and industry experience could strengthen oversight as Applied Materials pursues growth tied to advanced logic, memory and AI chip production. Applied Materials Appoints Akash Palkhiwala to Board of Directors
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market signals elevated uncertainty: A new analysis says options pricing for roughly one year ahead implies a particularly wide potential trading range, extending materially below and above the current level. That suggests investors should expect significant volatility rather than providing a clear directional signal. How Far Applied Materials Stock Can Move In A Year
• Negative Sentiment: CFO share sale may weigh modestly on sentiment: CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 AMAT shares for approximately $3.6 million, reducing his direct holdings by 5.51%. The sale does not alter the company’s operating outlook, but insider selling can create a limited short-term sentiment overhang. SEC Insider Transaction Filing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $605.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $645.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $657.76.

Applied Materials Stock Down 4.3%

Applied Materials stock opened at $461.67 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $154.46 and a one year high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $366.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $550.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $456.77.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The company had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 18.28%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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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