Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Acquired by American National Bank & Trust

American National Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,761 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 30.1% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 13,418 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,457,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group set a $430.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price target on Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $276.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $347.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $281.32.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. 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. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was 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 $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.