Level Four Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Level Four Advisory Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 15.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,677 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,410 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 150.0% in the 3rd 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 purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.0%

Applied Materials stock opened at $372.18 on Tuesday. 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 $123.74 and a 12-month high of $395.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $319.57 and a 200 day moving average of $251.67.

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, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the sale, the director owned 28,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.