Strs Ohio Buys New Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, purchasing 237,426 shares valued at approximately $34.5 million in the first quarter.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.48, exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.12 and marking a 7.7% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Institutional investors own 80.56% of Applied Materials’ stock, with several firms significantly increasing their stakes in the fourth quarter.

Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 237,426 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $34,455,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,608,000 after buying an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 86,171 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $14,014,000 after buying an additional 10,847 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,215,195 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $197,627,000 after purchasing an additional 173,247 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $74,972,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.1%

AMAT stock opened at $170.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $135.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $215.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. The business 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%.Applied Materials's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Daiwa America cut shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $193.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was 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 owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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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