Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock: Retirement Systems of Alabama Lowers Holdings

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 19.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 373,945 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 91,134 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for about 0.5% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $191,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $57,993,650,000 after buying an additional 1,237,685 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 85.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $50,267,184,000 after buying an additional 32,018,892 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in Applied Materials by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,645,344,000 after buying an additional 1,246,876 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Applied Materials by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,713,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,576,932,000 after buying an additional 1,073,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,252,863,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Semiconductor equipment stocks rallied broadly, with Applied Materials among the leaders, as investors rotated back into chip-related names after the sector’s recent sell-off. Applied Materials Jumps Ahead of Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are looking to continued AI-related chip-equipment demand, advanced packaging growth and rising memory investment to support AMAT’s outlook in its upcoming quarterly report. Analysts remain broadly optimistic, and B. Riley maintained a Buy rating despite lowering its price target. AMAT to Post Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: The rally comes ahead of a closely watched earnings report, which could set the direction for the shares. The company’s outlook will be important in gauging whether demand can sustain the recent recovery. Applied Materials Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Risks include supply concerns ahead of earnings and valuation: one analysis argues the stock may be above fair value after its substantial longer-term advance. Any cautious guidance or signs of weaker demand could undermine the rebound. Applied Materials Stock Looks Above Fair Value

Applied Materials Stock Up 11.4%

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $370.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $443.02 and a 200 day moving average of $444.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $294.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $203.40 and a twelve month high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials’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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the 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 approximately $1,732,245.36. This represents a 18.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director owned 25,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,877,960. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $675.00 to $695.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $650.00 to $590.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. New Street Research reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $625.76.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc develops and supplies equipment, software and services used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its technologies help customers build and process materials at the microscopic scale required for chips and other electronic products.

The company’s offerings include systems for depositing, removing and modifying materials, as well as inspection, measurement and process-control tools. It also provides equipment and services for advanced semiconductor packaging and supports customers with maintenance, upgrades and manufacturing software.

Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials serves semiconductor and display manufacturers around the world.