Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Holdings Lowered by Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 50.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,408 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,442 shares during the period. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Applied Materials by 225.4% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,046,057,000 after buying an additional 10,305,182 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 617.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,869,170,000 after purchasing an additional 7,856,576 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700,349 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,376,000 after buying an additional 3,583,751 shares during the period. Finally, Coatue Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $685,684,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. UBS Group set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $348.47 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $395.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $276.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.67, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $346.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.09.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. The business’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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Applied Materials 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.