Aristides Capital LLC Makes New $1.01 Million Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,494 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,409,320,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,085,600,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $882,396,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 43.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,573,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $808,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 23.6% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,140,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,995 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.1%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $249.97 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $222.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $252.66.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given 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 $228.04.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.