Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 1,649 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,377 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,649 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $430.00 target price on Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

Applied Materials Stock Up 5.8%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $341.79 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $395.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $271.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.98, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $345.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $279.09.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Company 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.