Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stake Lifted by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 478,867 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,391 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $98,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $36,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.78.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $263.05 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $276.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $208.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

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.