Sigma Planning Corp Trims Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Sigma Planning Corp reduced its stake in Applied Materials (AMAT) by 28.8% in Q4, selling 5,032 shares and retaining 12,466 shares valued at about $3.20 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently: Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares at $391.71 and CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares at $361.21, with insiders selling 12,003 shares (≈$4.48M) in the last 90 days.
• Applied Materials beat quarterly estimates with $2.38 EPS on $7.01B in revenue, issued Q2 2026 EPS guidance of $2.44–2.84, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53, and received multiple analyst price-target upgrades into the $430–$450 range.

Sigma Planning Corp reduced its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 28.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,466 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 5,032 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% in the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the company'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 value of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $389.08 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $151.51 and a 12-month high of $420.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $308.78 billion, a PE ratio of 39.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $368.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $305.94.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. The company's revenue 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, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group set a $430.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Summit Insights upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-seven investment 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $368.29.

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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