3,434 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Acquired by Retireful LLC

Retireful LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,434 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $893,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $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 $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials 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 approximately $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Susquehanna upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $400.00 in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. 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 MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $353.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $280.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $346.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $395.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

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.