Synovus Financial Corp Sells 3,559 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Synovus Financial Corp lessened its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,476 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,559 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Susquehanna raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $400.00 in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.04.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of AMAT opened at $376.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $298.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.70. 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 $123.74 and a 1 year high of $376.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $302.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $241.35.

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

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,914,628. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.