Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC

GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,624 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 6,378 shares during the quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $13,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $30,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $307.24 on Tuesday. 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 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $309.50. The company has a market capitalization of $243.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $255.04 and a 200 day moving average of $214.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.32 EPS. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.89.

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.