Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,082 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 6,279 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $31,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target 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. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Summit Insights raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.46.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of AMAT opened at $357.76 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $323.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.74. 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 company has a market capitalization of $283.92 billion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.65. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $395.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials’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, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

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.