Whittier Trust Co. Cuts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Whittier Trust Co. decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 288,194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 41,224 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises 0.8% of Whittier Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $74,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 225.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,046,057,000 after purchasing an additional 10,305,182 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 617.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,869,170,000 after purchasing an additional 7,856,576 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,751 shares during the period. Coatue Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $685,684,000. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,247,838,000 after purchasing an additional 3,280,730 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $389.90 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $358.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $293.32. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.80 and a 12 month high of $407.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.91, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.64. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue 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, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 21.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their price target on Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. DZ Bank raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently 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.