Sentry Investment Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,023 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, DZ Bank raised Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 4.8%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $318.46 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $344.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $286.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.31. The company has a market capitalization of $252.77 billion, a PE ratio of 36.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. The business’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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

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.