Wealthfront Advisers LLC Cuts Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Wealthfront Advisers LLC cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 99,269 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,444 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $20,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 21,955 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,019,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $254,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $330.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $344.60. The company has a market capitalization of $262.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $289.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $232.84.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. DZ Bank raised Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.15.

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.