South Dakota Investment Council Has $22.74 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 111,074 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 8,697 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $22,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 150.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. This 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 valued at $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. DZ Bank raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.0%

AMAT stock opened at $372.18 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $395.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $319.57 and its 200-day moving average is $251.67. The firm has a market cap of $295.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 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.