Carnegie Investment Counsel Purchases 30,380 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 200,723 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 30,380 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises 0.8% of Carnegie Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $41,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. IFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1,008.1% during the 2nd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 36,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,619,000 after purchasing an additional 32,893 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its position in Applied Materials by 23.0% during the second quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,643 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after buying an additional 2,363 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion boosted its position in Applied Materials by 10.2% during the second quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 113,221 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,924,000 after buying an additional 10,468 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 31.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 145,277 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,601,000 after buying an additional 35,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 13,360.6% in the second quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 694,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $127,129,000 after buying an additional 689,272 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $261.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $244.27 and a 200 day moving average of $206.11. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $276.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue 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, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. B. Riley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.78.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’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 value of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of Applied Materials 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.