FourThought Financial Partners LLC Has $9.03 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

FourThought Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,416 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 150.0% in the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $26,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $338.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $268.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65. The business’s 50-day moving average is $327.82 and its 200-day moving average is $258.09. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $395.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The company 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 business posted $2.38 EPS. The firm’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. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Craig Hallum reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.46.

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.