AIA Group Ltd Acquires New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

AIA Group Ltd bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 36,720 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,551,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 218.8% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 102 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Down 5.6%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $529.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $420.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $739.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $533.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $413.05.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials’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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $525.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $593.84.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,184,361.88. This trade represents a 14.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.75, for a total value of $42,587,906.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,695,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,006,503,625. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank raised its FY2026 and FY2027 earnings estimates for Applied Materials and reiterated a Buy rating, signaling confidence in the company’s growth outlook and AI-driven demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials CEO comments reinforcing the AI investment thesis may help support longer-term sentiment around the stock. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted that AMAT has been drawing increased attention from investors, but the piece was mainly a stock-screening update rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary suggested Applied Materials may be trading above fair value after a strong multi-year run, which could limit upside even if earnings remain solid. Article link
• Negative Sentiment: A broad semiconductor selloff is pressuring AMAT along with peers like AMD and Intel, as the market rotates out of chip stocks and into other areas. Article link

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.