Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,747 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 168,985 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $20,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 43.0% in the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 21,494 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,935,000 after purchasing an additional 6,458 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 361.8% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 34,837 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,378,000 after buying an additional 27,294 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.0% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Stenger Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $2,047,000. Finally, Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,101 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $568,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Craig Hallum reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price target (up from $265.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.74.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $267.14 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $273.59. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.78, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 21.20%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.