Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Brown Advisory Inc.

Brown Advisory Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 122,400 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 881 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $31,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,731,523,000 after buying an additional 330,197 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Applied Materials by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,405,458,000 after buying an additional 17,829,377 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after buying an additional 3,583,751 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Applied Materials by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,947,891,000 after buying an additional 373,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,858,543,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials unveiled new deposition and selective etch systems designed to improve precision in 3D chip structures, a sign it is targeting growing demand for advanced AI chips and next-generation semiconductor scaling. Applied Materials Unveils Deposition and Selective Etch Systems to Advance 3D Chip Scaling
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target on Applied Materials to $590 from $500 and kept an Overweight rating, reflecting higher expectations for wafer fab equipment spending and capital investment trends. Applied Materials (AMAT) Gets Higher Price Targets from Barclays and Cantor Fitzgerald
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary from Jim Cramer and other bullish articles highlighted AMAT as a stock investors may want to own when semiconductor demand strengthens, adding to the day’s favorable sentiment around the name. Jim Cramer Says “I’ll Go for AMAT”
• Neutral Sentiment: Some market commentary warned that the recent rally has pushed Applied Materials to stretched valuation levels, suggesting the stock may be extended after a sharp rebound and could be vulnerable to a pullback if momentum fades. Buy, Hold, or Sell: Applied Materials Surged Right Back Toward $500 Following a Brutal June Flush. Here’s Where I’d Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha piece argued that AMAT is “not cheap enough to buy” but also “too strong to sell,” reinforcing the view that the stock is richly valued but supported by solid fundamentals. Applied Materials: Not Cheap Enough To Buy, Too Strong To Sell
• Negative Sentiment: One market note said AMAT has already rebounded sharply and may be too extended for fresh buying at current levels, which could limit upside if investors become more cautious. Buy, Hold, or Sell: Applied Materials Surged Right Back Toward $500 Following a Brutal June Flush. Here’s Where I’d Buy

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $585.78 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $431.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $355.90. The company has a market cap of $465.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $599.62.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.1 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend 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 19.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $465.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $502.00 target price (up from $454.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $483.03.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $507,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,944,800. This trade represents a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,896 shares of company stock valued at $27,135,121. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials 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.