Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 38,293 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,827 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% in the third 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 during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Maseco LLP bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $301.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $257.75 and its 200-day moving average is $216.05. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $310.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Susquehanna raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Sunday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $272.79.

Applied Materials Company 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.