Boston Trust Walden Corp Reduces Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden Corp trimmed its Applied Materials (AMAT) stake by 15.2% in Q4, selling 71,670 shares and now holds 401,227 shares (~$103.1M), making AMAT its 23rd largest holding (~0.8% of its portfolio).
• Applied Materials beat Q1 estimates with $2.38 EPS and $7.01B revenue, provided Q2 2026 EPS guidance of $2.44–2.84, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 ($2.12 annual, ~0.5% yield).
• Analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" on AMAT with a $368.29 target, institutional ownership is about 80.6%, and insiders sold 12,003 shares (~$4.48M) in the last quarter.

Boston Trust Walden Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 15.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 401,227 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 71,670 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for about 0.8% of Boston Trust Walden Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 0.05% of Applied Materials worth $103,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 26.7% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 30.1% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 59.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $77,383,000 after purchasing an additional 157,426 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $394.33 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $136.32 and a 12 month high of $407.29. The stock has a market cap of $312.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.64. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $362.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. The firm'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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $368.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials 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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