Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Strs Ohio

Key Points

• Strs Ohio trimmed its stake in Applied Materials by 2.2% in Q4, selling 7,321 shares and leaving 321,608 shares valued at $82.65 million, while institutional investors hold about 80.56% of the stock.
• Applied Materials beat estimates for the quarter with EPS of $2.38 (vs. $2.21) and revenue of $7.01 billion (vs. $6.88 billion), and issued Q2 2026 EPS guidance of $2.44–$2.84.
• Dividend and insider activity: the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 (annualized $2.12, yield ~0.5%), while insiders sold roughly 12,003 shares (~$4.48 million) in the past 90 days.

Strs Ohio trimmed its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 321,608 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 7,321 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $82,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $55,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,397 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $635,057,000 after acquiring an additional 145,050 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $19,801,000 after acquiring an additional 17,288 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 82.2% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $5,512,000 after acquiring an additional 12,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,531,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $389.08 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $368.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $305.94. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $151.51 and a 1-year high of $420.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market cap of $308.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.64.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AMAT. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Applied Materials to an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last 90 days. Company 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.

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