Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions trimmed its stake in Applied Materials (AMAT) by 48.6% in Q3, selling 5,525 shares and leaving it with 5,836 shares worth about $1.195 million.
• Applied Materials beat expectations for the quarter with $2.38 EPS (vs. $2.21 est.) and $7.01 billion in revenue (vs. $6.88B est.), and set Q2 2026 guidance of $2.44–$2.84 EPS.
• Corporate insiders have been selling recently — Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares and CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares, with a total of 10,112 insider shares sold (~$3.66 million) in the past 90 days and insiders owning 0.30% of the stock.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 48.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,836 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 5,525 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 3,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 38.5% in the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,046 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,022,000 after buying an additional 3,071 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $395.04 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $312.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $247.33. 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 company has a market capitalization of $313.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $395.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 EPS. The company's quarterly 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. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 28,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,778,624.78. This represents a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 10,112 shares of company stock worth $3,660,532 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Craig Hallum restated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. DZ Bank upgraded Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded Applied Materials to an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $363.46.

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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