Willis Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Free Report) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 33,560 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,425 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $17,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 85.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $50,267,184,000 after acquiring an additional 32,018,892 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,252,863,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,512,287,000. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,645,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,237,685 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials
In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total transaction of $465,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,877,960. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total transaction of $394,806.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,732,245.36. This represents a 18.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Trending Headlines about Applied Materials
Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Demand for e-beam wafer-inspection systems is expected to expand from $1.3 billion in 2024 to $3.6 billion by 2030. Applied Materials is identified as a key participant, benefiting from shrinking chip nodes, higher yield requirements and AI-related data-processing demand. E-Beam Wafer Inspection Systems Market Forecasts Growth
- Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials is also listed among companies positioned to benefit from the flexible-electronics market, which is forecast to grow from $32 billion in 2024 to $89.4 billion by 2030 as foldable phones and wearables gain adoption. Flexible Electronics Global Strategic Business Report
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to raise earnings estimates, and some Wall Street price targets imply substantial upside after the stock’s recent decline. The company’s latest reported quarter also showed strong execution, with revenue up 24.8% year over year and EPS exceeding consensus. Applied Materials Cratered 20% Since July
- Neutral Sentiment: Articles comparing Applied Materials with ASML and Broadcom highlight its ability to fund research and repurchase shares, but emphasize that investors must assess R&D spending, buyback effectiveness and share issuance rather than headline cash returns alone. Applied Materials vs. ASML
- Negative Sentiment: Applied Materials reportedly experienced approximately $58.8 million of net ETF selling on October 15, creating short-term technical pressure unrelated to operating fundamentals. Applied Materials Sees Net ETF Selling
- Negative Sentiment: Following a roughly 79% one-year total return, investors are questioning whether the company’s AI-driven growth is already reflected in the valuation. That concern, along with a high earnings multiple and recent momentum weakness, may be encouraging profit-taking. Applied Materials Is Going Solid
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $683.00 to $641.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 14th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $700.00 price target (down from $790.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright set a $850.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $632.70.
Get Our Latest Analysis on AMAT
Applied Materials Trading Down 2.0%
Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $8.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $404.82. 3,056,416 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,861,786. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.40 and a 1 year high of $739.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $478.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $486.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The firm 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 business posted $2.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.
Applied Materials Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.28%.
Applied Materials Company Profile
Applied Materials, Inc is a technology company that supplies equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its products help customers fabricate the integrated circuits and other components used in computers, mobile devices, data centers, automobiles and a range of connected technologies.
The company’s offerings include systems for materials engineering, wafer fabrication, inspection and process control, along with equipment and services designed to improve manufacturing productivity and yield.
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