CenterBook Partners LP Invests $9.40 Million in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 36,581 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,401,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 147.2% in the fourth quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $453.01 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $510.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $359.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.54, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $408.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $343.11.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 15th. HSBC assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $517.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Monday, May 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.13.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $507,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,944,800. This represents a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.86, for a total value of $1,247,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 136,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,901,331.18. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 53,896 shares of company stock valued at $27,135,121 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.