William Blair Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,438 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Grandfield & Dodd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.9% in the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,397 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,643 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after buying an additional 2,363 shares in the last quarter. Sienna Gestion increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 113,221 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $18,924,000 after acquiring an additional 10,468 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 13,360.6% during the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 694,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $127,129,000 after acquiring an additional 689,272 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,512,000 after acquiring an additional 12,132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $351.28 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $321.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $253.00. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $395.95. 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 company has a market capitalization of $278.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.Applied Materials’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. The trade was 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 Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Susquehanna raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.