Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by CI Investments Inc.

CI Investments Inc. lessened its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,565 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,462 shares during the quarter. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $27,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% during the third quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.0% in the third quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 657 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 3,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 4.0% in the third quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Craig Hallum restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $351.28 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $395.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $321.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $253.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $278.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.95, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

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.