Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Decreases Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 433,796 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 20,874 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $313,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $57,993,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,685 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Applied Materials by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,947,891,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,858,543,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,688,232 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,746,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558,749 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Erste Group Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 target price on Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $675.00 target price on Applied Materials and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $657.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 14.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 284,192 shares of company stock worth $172,625,209 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $458.46 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. The company has a market capitalization of $363.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $547.17 and a 200 day moving average of $458.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The business had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.28%.

Applied Materials 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.