Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Has $9.92 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,470 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,733 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up approximately 1.2% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $32,000. Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.78.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $268.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61. The company has a market cap of $213.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $247.75 and a 200-day moving average of $209.39. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $276.10.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued 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 (DPR) is 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 value of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.