Cape ANN Savings Bank Cuts Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Cape ANN Savings Bank lessened its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,604 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,916 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 1.6% of Cape ANN Savings Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Cape ANN Savings Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 3,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Welch Group LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.0% in the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.5% during the second quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 0.8% during the second quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Narus Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.8% during the second quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $260.23 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $276.10. The firm has a market cap of $206.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $242.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $204.69.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given 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, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.20%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. B. Riley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $246.78.

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.