Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Sells 58,828 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 23.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 196,747 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 58,828 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $41,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intrua Financial LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $223,000. Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 53.9% during the third quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 3,553 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 1,244 shares during the period. Formidable Asset Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 28.1% during the third quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 6,783 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,389,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.89.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $321.22 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $331.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.71 billion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $265.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.06.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly 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 expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.