Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock Holdings Decreased by Applied Finance Capital Management LLC

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 21.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 129,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 35,067 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for 3.3% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $44,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised 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 worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its position in 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 valued at $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 3,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 157,426 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Erste Group Bank raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $589.48.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $602.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market cap of $478.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $517.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $403.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.46 and a 1-year high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released 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 company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.13 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total transaction of $14,704,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,599,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,236,570.46. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total value of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,534,609.56. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials rallied after CEO Gary Dickerson said chipmakers have “tremendous visibility” into demand, implying the AI investment cycle could support equipment orders for years rather than quarters. Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock Jumps after CEO Says AI Chip Demand Has Years to Run
• Positive Sentiment: Meta Platforms’ reported plan to begin manufacturing an in-house AI chip helped spark a broader rally in semiconductor equipment stocks, including Applied Materials, on expectations that AI infrastructure spending will remain strong. Applied Materials stock jumps as Meta AI chip plan lifts semiconductor names
• Positive Sentiment: Stifel and Needham both raised their price targets on AMAT and kept buy ratings, reinforcing the view that improving fundamentals and AI-driven demand could support further upside. Applied Materials PT Raised to $650 at Stifel
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Materials was removed from several Russell value-oriented indices in late June, a classification change that reflects the stock’s shift toward being viewed more as an AI/semiconductor growth name than a value stock. How Investors Are Reacting To Applied Materials (AMAT) Being Dropped From Key Russell Value Indices
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no reported short interest as of July 10, offering little evidence of bearish positioning from the latest filing.

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.