Penserra Capital Management LLC Acquires 52,119 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 44.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,119 shares during the quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $34,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $318.67 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $344.60. 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 $252.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.71, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.70. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $284.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $229.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 21.20%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Evercore ISI reiterated 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 restated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Barclays raised shares of Applied Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $250.00 to $360.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.68.

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.