Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Acquired by Brookstone Capital Management

Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,006 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,889 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $17,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Activest Wealth Management raised 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. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday. Bank of America upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $246.78.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $260.60 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $206.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.67. 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 fifty day moving average of $242.87 and a 200-day moving average of $205.08. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $276.10.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. The company’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, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Applied Materials 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.