Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stake Boosted by Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 45.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,366 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Total Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.78.

Applied Materials Trading Down 3.6%

Applied Materials stock opened at $281.64 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week 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 has a market capitalization of $223.32 billion, a PE ratio of 32.45, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.37.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

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.