Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 78.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,171 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 63,525 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,143,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 14.6% during the second quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,263 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,513,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in Applied Materials by 13,360.6% during the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 694,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $127,129,000 after acquiring an additional 689,272 shares during the period. Athena Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. Athena Investment Management now owns 3,130 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 10.5% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,262,058 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $231,045,000 after purchasing an additional 119,844 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% during the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 29,491 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,399,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Daiwa Capital Markets reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 price target (down from $185.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.74.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of AMAT opened at $224.01 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $242.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $218.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 21.20%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.08, for a total transaction of $936,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 88,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,681,202.08. This trade 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 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.