Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Position Boosted by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,459,400 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 164,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.31% of Applied Materials worth $450,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the period. PFG Advisors increased its stake in Applied Materials by 99.3% during the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 3,570 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 12,251 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $866,000. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its position in Applied Materials by 18.5% in the first quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 150,727 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $20,045,000 after purchasing an additional 23,496 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.74.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $220.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.76. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $242.50. The company has a market cap of $175.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.92.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

About Applied Materials

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.