Truist Financial Corp Has $76.36 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Truist Financial Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 297,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 14,811 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $76,363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 150.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $391.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.60 billion, a PE ratio of 40.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $368.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.17. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.51 and a 12 month high of $420.50.

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. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total value of $1,496,392.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at $10,778,624.78. This represents a 12.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $370.07.

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.