Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Holdings Trimmed by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 28.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,032,438 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 812,322 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Applied Materials worth $416,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 3,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 3.0% during the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.5% during the second quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 6.9%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $301.18 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $302.78. The firm has a market cap of $238.82 billion, a PE ratio of 34.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. DZ Bank raised shares of Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.