Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC Has $644,000 Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC lowered its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 31.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,885 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 874 shares during the period. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 30.1% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 3,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 59.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $77,383,000 after buying an additional 157,426 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at $79,534,609.56. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total transaction of $6,335,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares in the company, valued at $219,608,106.26. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 199,767 shares of company stock worth $114,104,709. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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 Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. HSBC began coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $517.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.26.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock opened at $585.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $465.17 billion, a PE ratio of 55.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50 day moving average of $459.63 and a 200-day moving average of $370.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $154.46 and a 12-month high of $641.18.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during 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%.Applied Materials’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. 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.