Capital Advisors Inc. OK Buys 31,869 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Capital Advisors Inc. OK grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 437,234 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,869 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises 1.7% of Capital Advisors Inc. OK’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Capital Advisors Inc. OK’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $107,714,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Warwick Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,460 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Founders Capital Management grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 16,944 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 22,722 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,839,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Nilsine Partners LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 10,620 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,729,000 after buying an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 5.8%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $341.79 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $345.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $395.95. The company has a market cap of $271.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.98, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during 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%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials 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.