Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock Sold by Lmcg Investments LLC

Lmcg Investments LLC trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 54,658 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 6,475 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises 1.5% of Lmcg Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $27,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $57,993,650,000 after buying an additional 1,237,685 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 85.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $50,267,184,000 after buying an additional 32,018,892 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Applied Materials by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,645,344,000 after buying an additional 1,246,876 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 16.2% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,713,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,576,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,879 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $5,252,863,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $710.00 price objective (up from $550.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $515.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $700.00 target price (down from $790.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $675.00 to $695.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $642.00 to $563.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.70.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total value of $394,806.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,732,245.36. The trade was a 18.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,544 shares in the company, valued at $11,877,960. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $408.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $473.15 and a 200 day moving average of $487.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $203.40 and a fifty-two week high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.28%.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a technology company that supplies equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its products help customers fabricate the integrated circuits and other components used in computers, mobile devices, data centers, automobiles and a range of connected technologies.

The company’s offerings include systems for materials engineering, wafer fabrication, inspection and process control, along with equipment and services designed to improve manufacturing productivity and yield.