Berman McAleer LLC Invests $403,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Berman McAleer LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,180 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $403,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 30.1% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 3,469 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 59.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $77,383,000 after purchasing an additional 157,426 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded Applied Materials to Buy, adding to a growing list of bullish analyst calls and reinforcing confidence in the company’s growth outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials unveiled two new chipmaking systems for next-generation AI chips, highlighting new product momentum in its core semiconductor equipment business and potential demand tied to AI infrastructure.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary and analyst notes continue to suggest AI-driven semiconductor spending could support Applied Materials’ premium valuation and future earnings growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares, a disclosure that may get attention but does not by itself signal a change in the company’s fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Applied Materials fell alongside other chip names after a report that SK Hynix is slowing HBM expansion, which raised concerns about near-term AI-chip demand across the sector.
• Negative Sentiment: Some market coverage also flagged AMAT’s valuation as stretched after a strong rally, suggesting investors may be more sensitive to any slowdown in growth expectations.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $502.00 price objective (up from $454.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.26.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total value of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at $79,534,609.56. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total value of $25,264,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at $180,204,069.76. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 199,767 shares of company stock valued at $114,104,709 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 8.5%

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $585.88 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $154.46 and a 12 month high of $641.18. The stock has a market cap of $465.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $459.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $370.55.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

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.