Hilltop Holdings Inc. Invests $2.87 Million in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,007 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,868,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 150.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total value of $1,496,392.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $346.18 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $274.73 billion, a PE ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $335.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.45. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $395.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The business’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

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.