Penserra Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 44.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 168,500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,119 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $34,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $318.67 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $284.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.32. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $344.60. The firm has a market cap of $252.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.71, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.87 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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 of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’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 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.68.

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.