Heartland Bank & Trust Co Increases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Heartland Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 74.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,057 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,309 shares during the quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kera Capital Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 769 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 20.2% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Arcus Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $253,000. Finally, PeakShares LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,054,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial set a $575.00 price target on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $510.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total value of $25,264,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at $180,204,069.76. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $529.66 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $533.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $413.05. The firm has a market cap of $420.53 billion, a PE ratio of 49.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.57. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.46 and a 1-year high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend 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 presently 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.