Clark Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 3,036 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Clark Asset Management LLC initiated a new stake in Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), purchasing 3,036 shares valued at about $780,000 in the fourth quarter.
• Q1 results beat expectations with EPS of $2.38 (vs. $2.21 estimate) and revenue of $7.01B (down ~2.1% YoY); management set Q2 guidance of $2.44–$2.84 EPS and analysts project ~9.38 EPS for the fiscal year.
• Applied Materials raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 (from $0.46) — annualized $2.12, ~0.5% yield — while insiders sold roughly 12,003 shares (~$4.48M) in the past three months and institutional ownership is about 80.6%.

Clark Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,036 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $780,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 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 in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 30.1% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 3,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 59.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $77,383,000 after acquiring an additional 157,426 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $396.94 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.80 and a fifty-two week high of $407.29. The stock has a market cap of $315.02 billion, a PE ratio of 40.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.64. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $359.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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 Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded shares of Applied Materials to an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $368.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

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 value of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. The trade was a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New tools for next‑gen chips: AMAT unveiled the Precision Selective Nitride PECVD and Trillium ALD systems aimed at 2nm AI and HPC chips — this strengthens its content per chip and positions it to capture AI/HPC node transitions. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Potential large customer for fabs: Bloomberg/press reports say Elon Musk’s Terafab team has contacted AMAT (among others) for equipment quotes — if that project proceeds it could add meaningful new demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness: B. Riley raised its price target on AMAT to $485 (Buy), reflecting a multi‑year AI-related outlook upgrade that supports higher valuations. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive industry signals: peers TSMC and (expected) Lam Research results point to strong AI/HPC and DRAM spending, which is supportive for AMAT as an equipment supplier. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum & coverage: multiple Zacks pieces note heavy investor interest and recent strong short‑term performance (momentum), which can amplify moves but may also lead to volatile reversals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and valuation pressure: relative comparisons (NVDA vs AMAT) and broader peer valuations (ASML/US peers) highlight that investors may prefer higher‑growth alternatives like NVIDIA, which could limit further multiple expansion for AMAT. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term softness in revenue: most recent quarter showed slight year‑over‑year revenue decline (about -2.1%), so while earnings beat and guidance were constructive, demand remains lumpy and could lead to volatility if orders don’t accelerate.

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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