Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lessened its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 202,430 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 85,200 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $41,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $259.97 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $276.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61. The stock has a market cap of $206.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $245.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.82.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Mizuho increased their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.78.

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.