Acropolis Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Acropolis Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,258 shares during the quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Maseco LLP purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5,325.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $253.50 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $239.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $276.10.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Citigroup raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. DZ Bank raised Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials 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.