QV Investors Inc. Sells 24,900 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

QV Investors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 42.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 24,900 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Traveka Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,404 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.5% in the third quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.0% during the third quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 657 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total value of $1,496,392.38. Following the sale, the director directly owned 28,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. The trade was a 12.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 target price on Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Summit Insights raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.46.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $348.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $276.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $347.12 and its 200-day moving average is $282.07. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $395.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. 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 currently 21.70%.

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.