Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by IFG Advisory LLC

IFG Advisory LLC cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,823 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,835 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $4,005,000. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,589,000. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 333.3% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 25,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,631,000 after purchasing an additional 19,886 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,008,591 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $729,211,000 after purchasing an additional 28,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 462,685 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $334,521,000 after purchasing an additional 105,776 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total transaction of $465,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,877,960. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total transaction of $394,806.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,181 shares in the company, valued at $1,732,245.36. This trade represents a 18.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Applied Materials News

These are some of the AMAT news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Fiscal Q4 revenue reached a record $10.41 billion, up 53% year over year, while non-GAAP EPS rose 92% to $4.16; both topped analysts’ estimates. The company also reported higher margins and returned $2.42 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. Applied Materials Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2026 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Management said demand is running ahead of supply, but component shortages and customers’ limited clean-room capacity may constrain how quickly equipment deliveries can scale. China is expected to account for less than a quarter of business in 2027, reducing reliance on that market even as export restrictions remain a risk. Applied Materials Says Chip Demand Remains Much Higher Than Supply
• Negative Sentiment: The strong quarter has not overcome weak sector sentiment: multiple analysts lowered price targets, citing valuation or semiconductor-equipment multiple compression, although most maintained Buy or Overweight ratings. A broader chip-stock sell-off and lingering concerns around AI-related trades have also weighed on the reaction. Analysts cut targets despite strong results

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 price target (up from $500.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $683.00 to $641.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Twenty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $589.23.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.7%

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $10.45 on Friday, reaching $370.50. 11,933,246 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,342,034. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $437.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $446.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $294.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $203.40 and a fifty-two week high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.37% and a net margin of 29.29%. The company had revenue of $10.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.17 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 4.150-4.550 EPS. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 18.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.28%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc. develops and supplies equipment, software and services used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its technologies help customers build and process materials at the microscopic scale required for chips and other electronic products. The company’s offerings include systems for depositing, removing and modifying materials, as well as inspection, measurement and process-control tools. It also provides equipment and services for advanced semiconductor packaging and supports customers with maintenance, upgrades and manufacturing software.