Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Purchased by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 73.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,728 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,821 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal Advantage Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Legal Advantage Investments Inc. now owns 13,881 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. First American Bank lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.9% during the third quarter. First American Bank now owns 37,412 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,660,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.3% in the third quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,868 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.9% in the third quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,677 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $178,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. DZ Bank raised Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.78.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $256.99 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $276.10. The stock has a market cap of $203.78 billion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $246.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.17. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous 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, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Applied Materials Company 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.