State of Michigan Retirement System Has $87.17 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 255,055 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $87,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 531 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,082 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.1% in the first quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Warther Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,031 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Applied Materials from $650.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $540.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Applied Materials from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $589.48.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $575.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $739.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $521.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $405.52. The firm has a market cap of $456.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,184,361.88. The trade was a 14.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total value of $5,547,872.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 40,559 shares in the company, valued at $24,326,071.43. This represents a 18.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials 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.