WealthShield Partners LLC Purchases 2,995 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

WealthShield Partners LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 36.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,119 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,995 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up about 1.2% of WealthShield Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. WealthShield Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Harborfront Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total transaction of $6,335,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,608,106.26. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total value of $5,547,872.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,326,071.43. This trade represents a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 276,692 shares of company stock worth $169,030,834. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.7%

Applied Materials stock opened at $484.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $384.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.74, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $154.46 and a 52-week high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $560.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $453.08.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The company had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $605.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $683.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $659.83.

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.