National Pension Service Raises Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

National Pension Service lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,962,051 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,763 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises 0.9% of National Pension Service’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. National Pension Service owned about 0.25% of Applied Materials worth $1,418,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Harborfront Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $468.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $372.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.60. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.55 and a 1 year high of $739.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $519.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $463.43.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total value of $5,547,872.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,326,071.43. This represents a 18.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.75, for a total value of $42,587,906.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,695,164 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,503,625. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 231,692 shares of company stock valued at $146,114,059 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $700.00 target price (down from $790.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright set a $850.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a report on Monday, June 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.45.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a global provider of materials engineering solutions used to manufacture semiconductors, displays and other advanced electronic products. The company develops and supplies equipment, services and software that help customers build and improve the performance of chips and display panels.

Its semiconductor products support processes including deposition, etch, patterning, inspection, metrology and materials modification. Applied Materials also provides equipment and services for display manufacturing, including technologies used in producing liquid-crystal and organic light-emitting diode displays, as well as solutions for adjacent markets such as solar and other specialty applications.

Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials serves semiconductor and display manufacturers worldwide through operations, customer-support centers and research and development activities across major technology-producing regions.