Evexia Wealth LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Evexia Wealth LLC lessened its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 57.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,103 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,488 shares during the quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $283,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grandfield & Dodd LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 6.9% in the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,180,000 after acquiring an additional 17,397 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,288 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 82.2% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,512,000 after purchasing an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,531,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 value of $1,496,392.38. Following the sale, the director directly owned 28,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,778,624.78. This represents a 12.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.5%

AMAT stock opened at $348.47 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $395.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $346.60 and a 200 day moving average of $280.09. The firm has a market cap of $276.55 billion, a PE ratio of 35.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.64.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. The business’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 forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials 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.