Gabelli Funds LLC Has $18.16 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Gabelli Funds LLC trimmed its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 70,650 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,302 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $18,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.9% in the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,180,000 after buying an additional 17,397 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan raised its position in Applied Materials by 82.2% during the third quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,512,000 after purchasing an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in Applied Materials by 21.8% during the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,531,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $413.57 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $380.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $321.37. The stock has a market cap of $328.21 billion, a PE ratio of 38.83, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.66. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.47 and a fifty-two week high of $448.45. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 17.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,003 shares of company stock worth $2,678,139. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AMAT. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $415.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded shares of Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $463.89.

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.