Scotia Capital Inc. Acquires 2,267 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Scotia Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,327 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,267 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $1,409,320,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $1,085,600,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $882,396,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 43.6% during the first 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 buying an additional 1,691,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 23.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,140,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,995 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $252.03 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $252.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $224.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 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, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $256.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.04.

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.