W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co Invests $460,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,791 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $460,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $382.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $303.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.64. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.71 and a twelve month high of $420.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $368.14 and a 200 day moving average of $305.33. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The business’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.1 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Summit Insights raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. KGI Securities raised Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.29.

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.