Archford Capital Strategies LLC Sells 6,430 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Archford Capital Strategies LLC reduced its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 6,430 shares during the quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 18.6% during the first quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 6,150 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $45,000. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% in the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 2,913 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 5,325.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. UBS Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.78.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $261.90 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $276.10. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.57. The firm has a market cap of $207.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 2.71 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. 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 currently 21.20%.

About Applied Materials

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.