William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 1,438 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,438 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,920,984 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,125,265,000 after buying an additional 391,540 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,836,807,000 after purchasing an additional 407,282 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 72.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,483,183,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700,349 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,936,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,635,992,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,525 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,604,002,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Summit Insights raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.46.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was 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 directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $351.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $321.39 and its 200 day moving average is $253.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $278.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.95, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.65. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $395.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The business’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

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.