Princeton Global Asset Management LLC Acquires 1,884 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 343.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,433 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,884 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $348.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $347.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.07. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $395.95. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $276.55 billion, a PE ratio of 35.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.64.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change 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 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.