GC Wealth Management RIA LLC Sells 10,152 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

GC Wealth Management RIA LLC reduced its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 53.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,716 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 10,152 shares during the quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 30.1% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 3,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 59.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $77,383,000 after acquiring an additional 157,426 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.4%

AMAT stock opened at $382.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $368.14 and a 200-day moving average of $305.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.71 and a fifty-two week high of $420.50.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend 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 currently 21.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Zacks Research downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup increased their price target on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.