Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT is Optimize Financial Inc’s 5th Largest Position

Optimize Financial Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,659 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up 0.9% of Optimize Financial Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Optimize Financial Inc’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 26.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $410,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 4,705 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $861,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $365,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Mizuho set a $370.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $275.00 to $390.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $318.67 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $344.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $284.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $229.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $252.93 billion, a PE ratio of 36.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.70.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. 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.