Prudential PLC Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Prudential PLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 128.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,530 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,961 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 147.2% in the 4th quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Erste Group Bank raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, HSBC started coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $517.00 target price for the company. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $507,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,944,800. This represents a 4.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total value of $116,370.96. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,461.60. This represents a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 53,896 shares of company stock valued at $27,135,121 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Down 9.7%

AMAT opened at $453.01 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $408.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $342.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $359.67 billion, a PE ratio of 42.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $154.46 and a 52 week high of $510.75.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.91%.

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.