Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Acquired by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,814 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,264 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $12,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 82.2% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 21.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $1,531,000. Finally, Avity Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.1% in the third quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 223,211 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $45,700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Argus lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Summit Insights upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.13.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $502.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $398.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $407.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $341.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $510.75.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The company 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%.Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.91%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 4.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was 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 $1,858,461.60. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.