Aberdeen Group plc Sells 8,079 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Aberdeen Group plc reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 712,005 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 8,079 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.09% of Applied Materials worth $182,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Formidable Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 9,073 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,332,000 after acquiring an additional 2,290 shares in the last quarter. Dorato Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $1,744,000. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,931 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $753,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,760 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 992.4% during the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 126,191 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,430,000 after purchasing an additional 114,639 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials 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 sale, the director owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $348.47 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $395.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $346.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.09. 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 $276.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.64.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue 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. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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

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.