Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Advanced Asset Management Advisors Inc

Key Points

• Advanced Asset Management Advisors Inc. cut its AMAT stake by 42.3%, selling 23,700 shares and ending the quarter with 32,300 shares worth $8.301 million (2.3% of the fund and its 20th largest holding).
• Wall Street is largely positive on AMAT—27 analysts rate it a Buy and seven a Hold—with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and a $368.29 price target, alongside recent target raises (Wells Fargo $435, Susquehanna $500).
• Applied Materials beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.38 vs. $2.21; revenue $7.01B) and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.53 from $0.46 (annualized $2.12, yield ~0.5%).

Advanced Asset Management Advisors Inc lessened its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 42.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,300 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 23,700 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises 2.3% of Advanced Asset Management Advisors Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Advanced Asset Management Advisors Inc's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 150.0% in the third 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. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Summit Insights raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $368.29.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $389.08 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $368.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $305.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $308.78 billion, a PE ratio of 39.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $151.51 and a 52-week high of $420.50.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials's revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is currently 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.

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