Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT is Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 18.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 176,607 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 40,529 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for 2.6% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $36,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 6.1% in the third quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 1,172 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,600 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,903,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 24,248 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,964,000 after buying an additional 1,737 shares during the period. Opinicus Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. now owns 6,069 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,242,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Finally, Versor Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 37.7% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 3,500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $717,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. 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. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Barclays upgraded Applied Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $360.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.15.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $330.57 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $289.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $232.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $344.60.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.