Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Purchases New Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 173,770 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $44,657,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Traveka Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,404 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.5% during the third quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,707,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 351 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the sale, the director directly owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. This represents a 12.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $323.12 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $395.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $344.96 and a 200-day moving average of $277.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $256.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.07, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 EPS. 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 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 paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials Company 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.