Venturi Wealth Management LLC Has $5.06 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,717 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,164 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. IFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1,008.1% in the second quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 36,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,619,000 after acquiring an additional 32,893 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,643 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 113,221 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $18,924,000 after buying an additional 10,468 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 31.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 145,277 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,601,000 after buying an additional 35,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 13,360.6% in the second quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 694,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $127,129,000 after buying an additional 689,272 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on AMAT shares. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 4th. DZ Bank raised Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.78.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $292.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $231.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $298.22. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $251.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Applied Materials 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.