1,866 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Purchased by Virtus Advisers LLC

Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,866 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 61.2% during the first quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 16,600 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,409,000 after acquiring an additional 6,300 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 475,970 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $69,073,000 after purchasing an additional 5,520 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 932.3% in the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 12,326 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 13,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beta Wealth Group Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 26.1% during the 1st quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 2,900 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Daiwa America cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.04.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $252.03 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.70. The firm has a market cap of $200.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $252.66.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

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.