RFG Advisory LLC Sells 8,172 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

RFG Advisory LLC reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 34.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,823 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 8,172 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $250.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $285.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Bank of America upped their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $275.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $315.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of AMAT opened at $330.57 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $344.60. The firm has a market cap of $262.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.08, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $289.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $232.84. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

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.