Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Argent Capital Management LLC

Argent Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 492,092 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,166 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises about 2.8% of Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $100,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 40.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 15,648 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,204,000 after acquiring an additional 4,514 shares in the last quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 19.0% in the third quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. now owns 2,486 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $233,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,357 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790 shares during the period. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 61,372 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,565,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, December 15th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.78.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $259.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.38 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $276.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

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.