CenterBook Partners LP Invests $9.40 Million in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 36,581 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,401,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 147.2% during the 4th quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total transaction of $25,264,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,204,069.76. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $507,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,544 shares in the company, valued at $11,944,800. The trade was a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 53,896 shares of company stock valued at $27,135,121 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $453.01 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $359.67 billion, a PE ratio of 42.54, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $154.46 and a 12 month high of $510.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $408.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $343.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Truist Financial set a $575.00 target price on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Applied Materials from $435.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. HSBC began coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $517.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $502.00 price objective (up from $454.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.13.

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.