LGT Group Foundation Has $2.15 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

LGT Group Foundation trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 28.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,884 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 657 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 3,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.0% during the third quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Welch Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% during the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total value of $1,496,392.38. Following the transaction, the director owned 28,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. The trade was a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. DZ Bank raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Summit Insights raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.4%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $338.94 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $395.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $327.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $258.09. The stock has a market cap of $268.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.69, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.83%.

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.