United Advisor Group LLC Sells 1,685 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

United Advisor Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 37.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,831 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,685 shares during the quarter. United Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $389.90 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.80 and a 1-year high of $407.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.64. The company’s 50-day moving average is $358.40 and its 200 day moving average is $293.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.29.

More Applied Materials News

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New product catalysts — AMAT unveiled two chipmaking systems aimed at 2nm AI and HPC nodes (Precision Selective Nitride PECVD and Trillium ALD), which support stronger exposure to AI/HPC demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness — B. Riley raised its price target to $485 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing a multi-year upside from AI-related investment cycles. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Industry demand signals — TSMC’s upbeat outlook and broader DRAM/data-center coverage stories support secular demand for wafer-fab equipment suppliers like AMAT. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Potential new customer outreach — Bloomberg/Yahoo report Elon Musk’s Terafab team has contacted equipment suppliers including Applied Materials for quotes; this signals possible future demand but timing and scale are uncertain. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum coverage — Zacks notes AMAT was up ~14.6% over one week, making it a momentum candidate; that rapid move can attract both buyers and near-term profit-takers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer/valuation context — ASML’s narrowing premium vs. U.S. peers and other sector pieces provide background on relative valuations but don’t directly change AMAT’s fundamentals today. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Relative investment preference for NVIDIA — a Zacks comparison argues NVIDIA is the better buy now due to stronger data-center dominance and valuation, which could divert investor flows away from AMAT despite AMAT’s exposure to AI. Article Title

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.