Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by State of Wyoming

Key Points

• State of Wyoming cut its Applied Materials stake by 50.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,994 shares and leaving it with 2,957 shares valued at about $760,000. Several other hedge funds also adjusted holdings, while institutional investors still own 80.56% of the stock.
• Insiders sold shares recently, including Director Judy Bruner and CAO Adam Sanders, though company insiders collectively own just 0.30% of Applied Materials. These transactions came amid continued investor attention on the stock.
• Applied Materials reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results and raised its dividend, posting $2.86 EPS on $7.91 billion in revenue and increasing the quarterly payout to $0.53 per share from $0.46. Analysts remain mostly bullish, with 27 Buy ratings and an average price target of $470.13.

State of Wyoming trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 50.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 2,994 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenspring Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $427,000. Archvest Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,579,000. North Berkeley Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 219.1% during the 4th quarter. North Berkeley Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,243 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,347,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Private Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,598 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $507,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,944,800. This trade represents a 4.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total value of $116,370.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,280 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,858,461.60. The trade was a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Seaport Research Partners began coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, May 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. KGI Securities raised Applied Materials to an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, March 27th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $470.13.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.2%

AMAT opened at $502.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $407.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $341.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $398.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $154.46 and a 12 month high of $510.75.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.91%.

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.

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