Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Sells 58,288 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 100,956 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 58,288 shares during the quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $20,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 3,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $673,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 3.0% in the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Shelton Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 1.5% in the second quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.8% during the second quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.8% during the second quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $261.90 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $276.10.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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 quarter last year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 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, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.78.

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.