J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Grows Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 199,596 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,516 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $51,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 314,612 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $80,852,000 after purchasing an additional 7,350 shares in the last quarter. MOR Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $781,000. Private Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,971 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 2,759 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centurion Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock opened at $323.12 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $344.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $277.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $395.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $256.43 billion, a PE ratio of 33.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.46.

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.