Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stake Increased by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 478,867 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,391 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned 0.06% of Applied Materials worth $98,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Maseco LLP bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Total Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, December 22nd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.78.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.4%

AMAT stock opened at $263.05 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $276.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $244.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.19. The stock has a market cap of $208.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 21.20%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.