Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stake Increased by F&V Capital Management LLC

F&V Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 95,196 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,745 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises approximately 3.6% of F&V Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. F&V Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $24,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Aspire Private Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 59,228 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,342 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,086 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $793,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,579 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,747,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Applied Materials by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,261 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $353.80 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $280.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $395.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $346.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $279.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

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.