Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Trek Financial LLC

Trek Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 55.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,436 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,275 shares during the quarter. Trek Financial LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $4,005,000. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $1,589,000. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 333.3% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 25,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,631,000 after purchasing an additional 19,886 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,008,591 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $729,211,000 after purchasing an additional 28,982 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Applied Materials by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 462,685 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $334,521,000 after buying an additional 105,776 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total transaction of $394,806.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,732,245.36. This trade represents a 18.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total transaction of $465,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,877,960. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Argus set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective (down from $790.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Evercore set a $590.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $632.70.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $374.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $297.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.60. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $203.40 and a one year high of $739.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $455.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $443.98. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

Applied Materials 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.