Ascent Group LLC Has $1.45 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC has reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. by 28.2%, now holding 7,907 shares valued at approximately $1.45 million.
• Applied Materials recently reported a Q3 earnings per share (EPS) of $2.48, surpassing expectations, and has set guidance for Q4 EPS between $1.910 and $2.310.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.46 on December 11th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.8%.

Ascent Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,907 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 3,111 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 23.6% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,140,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,995 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,656,034 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,038,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,635 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,085,600,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 20.7% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,189,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,043,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 43.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,573,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $808,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,428 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $217.53 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $173.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.52. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $226.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The business had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.21 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. The business'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 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, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Applied Materials from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $172.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $195.12.

About Applied Materials

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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