Baker Chad R Makes New $1.92 Million Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Baker Chad R purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,360 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,916,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 3,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% in the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.5% in the second quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the second quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Narus Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.4%

AMAT opened at $261.90 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $244.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.11. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $276.10. The company has a market cap of $207.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.67. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AMAT shares. UBS Group upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $250.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.