Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE reduced its stake by 4% in Applied Materials in Q4, selling 24,643 shares and leaving it with 593,397 shares worth about $152.5 million (≈0.07% of the company).
• Insiders have been selling recently: CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares at $361.21 and Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares at $391.71, with insiders offloading a total of 12,003 shares (~$4.48M) in the last three months (insiders own 0.30%).
• Analyst sentiment and company metrics are positive: several firms raised price targets (e.g., B. Riley to $485, Susquehanna to $500) and the stock has a consensus "Moderate Buy" (avg PT $368.29); Applied Materials beat EPS/revenue last quarter and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 (annualized $2.12).

US Bancorp DE reduced its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 593,397 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 24,643 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned about 0.07% of Applied Materials worth $152,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 225.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,046,057,000 after buying an additional 10,305,182 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 617.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,869,170,000 after buying an additional 7,856,576 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after buying an additional 3,583,751 shares during the period. Coatue Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $685,684,000. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,247,838,000 after buying an additional 3,280,730 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $450.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $368.29.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $382.59 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $303.63 billion, a PE ratio of 39.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.64. The company's 50-day moving average price is $368.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $305.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.71 and a fifty-two week high of $420.50. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 21.70%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.