Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock Position Lowered by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,836 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,525 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Summit Insights upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were 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 $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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,112 shares of company stock valued at $3,660,532. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $395.04 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $313.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.43, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $312.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $247.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.