Vest Financial LLC Boosts Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 18.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 309,359 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,754 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up about 0.8% of Vest Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $63,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,510 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,814,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 16.2% in the third quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 3,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Impact Investors Inc raised its stake in Applied Materials by 4.6% during the third quarter. Impact Investors Inc now owns 3,939 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $807,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 17,267 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,535,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.7%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $318.23 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $331.00. The stock has a market cap of $252.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.66, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $265.03 and a 200-day moving average of $220.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Craig Hallum reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. UBS Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.89.

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.