Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Increases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,033 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,302 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises approximately 1.9% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $16,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 531 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. One Day In July LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 2.4% in the first quarter. One Day In July LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,082 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $712,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.1% during the first quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Warther Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. This trade represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total value of $6,335,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 346,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,608,106.26. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $529.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $420.53 billion, a PE ratio of 49.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.46 and a 1-year high of $739.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $533.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $413.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $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 12.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Truist Financial set a $575.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright set a $850.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.84.

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.