Strs Ohio Lowers Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Strs Ohio lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 321,608 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,321 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $82,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $389.08 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $151.51 and a twelve month high of $420.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $368.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $305.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $308.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.82, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 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 firm 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 earned $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on AMAT shares. UBS Group set a $430.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.29.

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.