Empowered Funds LLC Has $19.59 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 173.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 135,001 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,667 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $19,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,085,600,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2,401.0% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,066,817 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $445,056,000 after purchasing an additional 2,944,193 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 18,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,824,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,647,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814,444 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 43.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,573,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $808,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,140,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,995 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Cfra Research raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $162.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $129.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $215.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.