GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC Sells 5,228 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 57,590 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,228 shares during the quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $29,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,005,000. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $1,589,000. CX Institutional raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 333.3% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 25,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,631,000 after purchasing an additional 19,886 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,008,591 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $729,211,000 after purchasing an additional 28,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 29.6% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. New Street Research lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $605.00 target price (down from $680.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $675.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $632.70.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total transaction of $394,806.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total transaction of $3,594,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at $61,637,780.25. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $374.53 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $455.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $443.98. The stock has a market cap of $297.23 billion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.60. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $203.40 and a fifty-two week high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.28%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a technology company that supplies equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its products help customers fabricate the integrated circuits and other components used in computers, mobile devices, data centers, automobiles and a range of connected technologies.

The company’s offerings include systems for materials engineering, wafer fabrication, inspection and process control, along with equipment and services designed to improve manufacturing productivity and yield.