WINTON GROUP Ltd Buys 10,590 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in Applied Materials by 43.4%, buying an additional 10,590 shares to hold 34,992 shares worth about $7.16 million per its latest 13F filing.
• Several analysts have raised price targets (e.g., Barclays, Mizuho, Needham, Morgan Stanley), leaving the consensus rating at a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $363.46.
• Insiders sold 12,003 shares worth $4.48 million in the last quarter (including sales by a director and the CFO), while institutional investors own 80.56% of the company and insiders just 0.30%.

WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 43.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,992 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,590 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.5% in the third quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 657 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 3,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.0% during the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Barclays increased their price target on Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating 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 research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $363.46.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 6.3%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $324.74 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $257.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $395.95. The business's 50 day moving average is $326.31 and its 200-day moving average is $256.82.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

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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