Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Bought by Foster & Motley Inc.

Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 17,781 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,598 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $32,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 68.9% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 179 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $281.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.37. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $298.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61. The company has a market cap of $223.32 billion, a PE ratio of 32.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.78.

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.