Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Montag A & Associates Inc.

Montag A & Associates Inc. lowered its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,851 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,105 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 150.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of AMAT opened at $389.08 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $368.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $306.55. The stock has a market cap of $308.78 billion, a PE ratio of 39.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.66. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.51 and a 12 month high of $420.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.29.

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.