Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 197,034 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,180,883 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 197,034 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $817,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its position in Applied Materials by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 3,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Applied Materials by 59.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $77,383,000 after buying an additional 157,426 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.86, for a total value of $1,247,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 136,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,901,331.18. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $507,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,944,800. The trade was a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,896 shares of company stock valued at $27,135,121. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $453.01 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $359.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $408.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $343.11. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $154.46 and a 12-month high of $510.75.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $517.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.13.

About Applied Materials

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.