Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors Sells 1,442 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors decreased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 50.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,408 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,442 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% during 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Susquehanna raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their target price for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $348.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $276.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $346.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $395.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.83%.

Applied Materials 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.