E20 Capital Ltd Invests $46.98 Million in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

E20 Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 64,978 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $46,979,000. Applied Materials comprises about 3.8% of E20 Capital Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $1,589,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 59.0% during the 1st quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,082,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 183.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,073 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $790,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.6% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 462,685 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $334,521,000 after acquiring an additional 105,776 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Applied Materials News

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reportedly named Applied Materials a “top pick,” citing the company’s exposure to the continued buildout of AI infrastructure and chip-manufacturing capacity. Applied Materials Stock Is Named a Top Pick at Goldman Sachs
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see significant upside after the stock’s decline from its high, with AI-driven semiconductor investment and record quarterly revenue supporting bullish price targets. One report cited an average target near $641, implying roughly 32% potential appreciation from recent levels. Wall Street Sees Rally Despite Decline From Peak
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials is viewed as a key beneficiary of AI infrastructure spending because its equipment and engineering solutions are essential to advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Why Investors Should Buy the Dip in AMAT
• Neutral Sentiment: Mizuho lowered its Applied Materials price target from $650 to $590 but retained an “outperform” rating. The reduced target reflects more cautious expectations, while the rating still indicates confidence in the company’s longer-term prospects. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: The reported August short-interest figures show zero shares and a mathematically invalid change, making the data unreliable and unlikely to provide a meaningful trading signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Semiconductor stocks broadly declined as investors reduced risk ahead of NVIDIA’s results, weighing on Applied Materials alongside other chipmakers. Semiconductor Stocks Slide Ahead of NVIDIA Earnings

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $510.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Erste Group Bank cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $515.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Barclays upped their price target on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $657.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total value of $6,335,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 346,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,608,106.26. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total transaction of $14,398,392.09. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares in the company, valued at $87,184,361.88. The trade was a 14.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 276,692 shares of company stock valued at $169,030,834 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $480.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $380.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $558.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $454.37. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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