Choate Investment Advisors Sells 1,770 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Choate Investment Advisors trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 25,079 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,770 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,731,523,000 after acquiring an additional 330,197 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Applied Materials by 225.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,046,057,000 after acquiring an additional 10,305,182 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,751 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,247,838,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Applied Materials by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,552,132 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,160,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,681,911 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America raised their price target on Applied Materials from $465.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $465.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $432.16 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.47 and a fifty-two week high of $448.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $387.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $326.68. The stock has a market cap of $342.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.66.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company 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 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.