Vest Financial LLC Sells 58,378 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Vest Financial LLC lessened its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 21.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,514 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 58,378 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 1.1% of Vest Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $107,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 85.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $50,267,184,000 after purchasing an additional 32,018,892 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $5,252,863,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,512,287,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,645,344,000 after buying an additional 1,246,876 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $57,993,650,000 after buying an additional 1,237,685 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $575.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Evercore set a $590.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $645.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $632.70.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $408.94 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $203.40 and a 1-year high of $739.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $324.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $473.15 and a 200-day moving average of $487.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,877,960. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total transaction of $3,594,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at $61,637,780.25. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a technology company that supplies equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its products help customers fabricate the integrated circuits and other components used in computers, mobile devices, data centers, automobiles and a range of connected technologies.

The company’s offerings include systems for materials engineering, wafer fabrication, inspection and process control, along with equipment and services designed to improve manufacturing productivity and yield.