Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Holdings Decreased by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 94.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 404 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,030 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Harborfront Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Curry Webb Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. William Blair started coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 26th. Zacks Research cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $645.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,877,960. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total value of $3,594,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,637,780.25. This represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 4.0%

Applied Materials stock opened at $374.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $455.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $443.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $297.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $203.40 and a 52 week high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.28%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a technology company that supplies equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its products help customers fabricate the integrated circuits and other components used in computers, mobile devices, data centers, automobiles and a range of connected technologies.

The company’s offerings include systems for materials engineering, wafer fabrication, inspection and process control, along with equipment and services designed to improve manufacturing productivity and yield.