1,213 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Bought by Balentine LLC

Balentine LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $415,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whelan Financial increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.1% during the first quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 1,754 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth $73,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 166,069 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $56,761,000 after buying an additional 5,409 shares in the last quarter. Rexford Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% in the first quarter. Rexford Capital Inc. now owns 5,490 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Severin Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $236,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remained constructive on Applied Materials, with Erste Group raising FY2026 and FY2027 EPS estimates and Cantor Fitzgerald lifting its price target to $850 while keeping an Overweight rating.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted Applied Materials as a major beneficiary of AI-driven chip spending, with the stock hitting all-time highs and posting its best monthly rally since 1975, supported by stronger earnings expectations and improved sentiment across semiconductor equipment names.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market commentary noted that chip stocks were the main laggard even as most equities moved higher, suggesting sector rotation rather than company-specific fundamentals may have pressured AMAT.
• Negative Sentiment: Technical analysts warned that Applied Materials had become extremely overbought and could be due for a reversal after its steep surge, which may have contributed to profit-taking.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Gary E. Dickerson disclosed two stock sales totaling more than 78,000 shares over June 29-30, a move that can weigh on sentiment even though he still retains a very large stake.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. HC Wainwright set a $850.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.56.

Applied Materials Trading Down 10.0%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $650.91 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $516.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $154.46 and a 12 month high of $739.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $491.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $386.97.

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. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for 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%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $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 12.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was 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 owned 134,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. This trade represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,599,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,236,570.46. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.