Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Has $15.30 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,547 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,369 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $15,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $635,057,000 after buying an additional 145,050 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 82.2% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,512,000 after buying an additional 12,132 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,801,000 after buying an additional 17,288 shares during the period. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,531,000. Finally, Avity Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 223,211 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $45,700,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total transaction of $25,264,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,204,069.76. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.86, for a total transaction of $1,247,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 136,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,901,331.18. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 53,896 shares of company stock worth $27,135,121 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $453.01 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $510.75. The stock has a market cap of $359.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.54, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $408.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $342.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 19.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Argus raised their target price on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, May 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.13.

About Applied Materials

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.