Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,577,798 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 153,039 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.45% of Applied Materials worth $654,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,836,807,000 after purchasing an additional 407,282 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,951,691 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,455,716,000 after buying an additional 291,358 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,140,836,000 after buying an additional 1,502,995 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,409,320,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,656,034 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,038,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,635 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Summit Insights cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.08, for a total value of $936,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 88,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,681,202.08. This represents a 4.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $224.01 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $242.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $218.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $189.40. The stock has a market cap of $178.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.20%.

About Applied Materials

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.