Hartford Investment Management Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 47,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,994 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1,008.1% during the second quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 36,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,619,000 after acquiring an additional 32,893 shares in the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.9% during the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,397 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 23.0% during the second quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,643 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 113,221 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $18,924,000 after purchasing an additional 10,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 145,277 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,601,000 after buying an additional 35,012 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $328.40 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $283.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $228.41. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $344.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.66 billion, a PE ratio of 37.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.70.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 21.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $390.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, January 9th. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.68.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.