WoodTrust Financial Corp Has $19.59 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

WoodTrust Financial Corp cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 76,224 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,673 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 2.3% of WoodTrust Financial Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. WoodTrust Financial Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $19,589,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 3,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 59.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $77,383,000 after buying an additional 157,426 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $430.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays increased their target price on Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock traded up $3.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $385.89. 685,505 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,161,797. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $368.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $305.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.74 and a 12 month high of $420.50. 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 firm has a market cap of $306.25 billion, a PE ratio of 39.43, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.64.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. The company’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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 21.70%.

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.