Carnegie Investment Counsel Acquires 30,380 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 200,723 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,380 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 0.8% of Carnegie Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $41,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Maseco LLP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in Applied Materials by 5,325.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. UBS Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, October 13th. Twenty equities research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.78.

Insider Activity

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

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $261.90 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $244.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.11. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $276.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.67. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

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.