United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Buys Shares of 676,245 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• United Super Pty Ltd disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Applied Materials, buying 676,245 shares valued at about $173.8 million. The position represents roughly 2.4% of its portfolio and makes AMAT its 8th largest holding.
• Applied Materials continues to draw bullish attention from analysts and investors, with several firms raising price targets and the stock maintaining a Moderate Buy consensus. Hedge funds own about 80.56% of the company’s shares.
• The company posted strong recent results, beating earnings and revenue estimates and raising Q3 guidance, while also increasing its quarterly dividend to $0.53 per share. Management and analysts point to AI-driven semiconductor demand as a key growth driver.

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 676,245 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $173,788,000. Applied Materials makes up about 2.4% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund owned about 0.09% of Applied Materials at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $19,731,523,000 after buying an additional 330,197 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in 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 worth $3,046,057,000 after buying an additional 10,305,182 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $2,563,376,000 after buying an additional 3,583,751 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in 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 worth $2,247,838,000 after buying an additional 3,280,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in 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 worth $2,160,443,000 after buying an additional 1,681,911 shares in the last quarter. 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:

• Positive Sentiment: CEO Gary Dickerson said the semiconductor industry is experiencing its strongest period ever, with AI driving powerful long-term demand for chip equipment. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an Overweight rating and raised its price target to $575, signaling continued confidence in Applied Materials’ growth outlook. Benzinga report on Applied Materials analyst target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials’ recent partnership and packaging initiatives with Broadcom and SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions are being viewed as incremental wins for its AI chip packaging strategy. Applied Materials partners with Broadcom on advanced chip packaging technologies for AI systems
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest earnings beat expectations and it raised third-quarter guidance, reinforcing the view that demand remains strong. Applied Materials is up after raising Q3 outlook and expanding AI packaging alliance
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Judy Bruner and CAO Adam Sanders both sold small amounts of stock, but the transactions were relatively modest and do not appear to change the broader investment story. Insider trade filing for Judy Bruner

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Argus boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners started coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, May 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $470.13.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $449.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.03 billion, a PE ratio of 42.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.66. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.47 and a 1-year high of $462.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $395.24 and a 200 day moving average of $332.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total transaction of $116,370.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,280 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,461.60. This represents a 5.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $507,600.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,944,800. This represents a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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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