Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock Position Lessened by Argent Capital Management LLC

Argent Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 492,092 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,166 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 2.8% of Argent Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Argent Capital Management LLC owned 0.06% of Applied Materials worth $100,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,604,002,000. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,409,320,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,483,183,000 after buying an additional 5,700,349 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $882,396,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 417.3% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,732,015 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $317,053,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397,217 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. BNP Paribas raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.78.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $259.01 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $241.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $205.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $276.10.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.