HB Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,183 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,378 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $281.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $252.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $298.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 21.20%.

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.