Empowered Funds LLC Buys 12,468 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 125,765 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,468 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $42,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 26.7% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 3,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 59.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $77,383,000 after acquiring an additional 157,426 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.6%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $516.89 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $546.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $739.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $410.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.57.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $599.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total transaction of $5,547,872.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 40,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,326,071.43. This represents a 18.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,184,361.88. The trade was a 14.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.