Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 268,579 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,269 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $49,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5,325.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Craig Hallum reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Bank of America upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, October 13th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price target (up from $265.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.74.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $268.00 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $231.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.16. The company has a market capitalization of $213.50 billion, a PE ratio of 30.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $273.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.