FourThought Financial Partners LLC Has $9.03 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

FourThought Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 23.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,416 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $338.94 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $327.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $258.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $395.95. The stock has a market cap of $268.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65. 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) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials’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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.