Korea Investment CORP Lowers Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Korea Investment CORP decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 580,859 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 39,242 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up about 0.8% of Korea Investment CORP’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.07% of Applied Materials worth $419,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $57,993,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,685 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 119.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,947,891,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,858,543,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,688,232 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,746,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558,749 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price target on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $659.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $25,264,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,204,069.76. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,184,361.88. This trade represents a 14.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 276,692 shares of company stock valued at $169,030,834. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.7%

AMAT opened at $484.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $384.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.74, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.61. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $560.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $453.08. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $154.46 and a 52 week high of $739.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

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.