Vestcor Inc Lowers Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Vestcor Inc decreased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 21.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,743 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,595 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $55,180,000 after acquiring an additional 17,397 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in Applied Materials by 13,360.6% during the second quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 694,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $127,129,000 after purchasing an additional 689,272 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in Applied Materials by 21.8% during the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 82.2% in the third quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,512,000 after purchasing an additional 12,132 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. KGI Securities raised shares of Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the firm’s 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 $10,778,624.78. This represents a 12.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $338.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $327.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $258.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $395.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors 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 yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

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.