Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Argent Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Argent Capital Management LLC sold 2,320 shares of Applied Materials, reducing its stake by 0.5% to own 497,258 shares, which is 2.6% of its holdings.
• Applied Materials reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.12, and projected Q4 2025 EPS guidance between 1.910-2.310.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, with an ex-dividend date of November 20th and a dividend yield of 0.9%.

Argent Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 497,258 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 2,320 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for 2.6% of Argent Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Argent Capital Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Applied Materials worth $91,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 972.2% during the 1st quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its stake in Applied Materials by 435.0% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in Applied Materials by 5,325.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenline Partners LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic cut Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Daiwa America downgraded Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley raised Applied Materials from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $172.00 to $209.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Cfra Research raised Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $194.35.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $200.52 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $215.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.50. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $176.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.99. The firm has a market cap of $159.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.77.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th 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 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.93%.

Applied Materials Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.

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