HF Advisory Group LLC Purchases 114,639 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

HF Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 992.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,191 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 114,639 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 1.2% of HF Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $32,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Traveka Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,404 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 657 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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. Susquehanna raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target 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. Finally, Summit Insights upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $353.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $280.78 billion, a PE ratio of 36.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $346.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $279.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $395.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’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 value of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.