Graetz Wealth LLC Buys New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Graetz Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,666 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $244,000. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $838,000. Lyell Wealth Management LP grew its stake in Applied Materials by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 1,167 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Stirlingshire Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $238,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $916,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Applied Materials News

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target on Applied Materials, adding to the bullish analyst backdrop and helping reinforce the stock’s upside momentum. Top 5 Strong Buy Stocks to Invest In
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays reiterated an Overweight rating on Applied Materials, citing continued investment in new chip supply and AI infrastructure demand. Applied Materials and KLA Are Surging. Why You Should Buy the Stocks, Says This Analyst.
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials is being highlighted as a key beneficiary of high-bandwidth memory and broader AI hardware spending, which supports long-term semiconductor equipment demand. Applied Materials (AMAT) Is One Of the Best High-Bandwidth Memory Stocks To Buy
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s new $500 million Singapore manufacturing expansion is being viewed as a strategic move to support AI chip demand and expand capacity for future growth. Applied Materials Expands Singapore Manufacturing to Support AI Chip Demand

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $440.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 15th. KGI Securities raised shares of Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $483.03.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $552.64 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $154.46 and a 52 week high of $557.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $438.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.89, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $422.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $351.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total value of $116,370.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,461.60. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,204,069.76. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 53,896 shares of company stock valued at $27,135,121. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.