Mission Wealth Management LP Lowers Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Mission Wealth Management LP decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,212 shares during the quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Marquette Asset Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.9%

AMAT opened at $328.40 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $344.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $283.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $228.41. The company has a market cap of $260.66 billion, a PE ratio of 37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Craig Hallum restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Applied Materials from $285.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.68.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.