Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,767 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,288,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 2,673.8% in the first quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,687 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $14,932,000 after buying an additional 42,112 shares in the last quarter. Collaborative Fund Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $916,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $234,000. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 47.2% during the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 1,816 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the period. Finally, Abel Hall LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials was added to Zacks’ Rank #1 (Strong Buy) momentum stock list for July 7, which may support investor interest in the name. Best Momentum Stock to Buy for July 7th
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Applied Materials to $647 from $502, signaling continued analyst confidence even though the firm kept an equal-weight rating. Applied Materials Given New $647.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs also lifted its target on AMAT to $645, helping drive a broader chip-stock rally earlier in the session. 2 Chip Stocks Driving Today’s Rally With Lofty Bull Notes
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials’ AI-related product momentum remains a theme after it unveiled the SENZ platform to speed smart-glasses development, reinforcing its positioning in AI-enabled hardware. Applied Materials Unveils AI-Powered SENZ Platform to Accelerate Smart Glasses Development
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles highlighted AMAT as a popular and “best stocks on the rise” candidate, but these pieces are largely sentiment-driven rather than tied to a specific new operational catalyst. Is Applied Materials One of the Best Stocks on the Rise to Invest In?
• Negative Sentiment: Chip stocks, including Applied Materials, were pressured by a broader semiconductor selloff after Samsung earnings triggered risk-off trading across the group. Intel and Applied Materials Dive 10%, AMD Craters 8% as Samsung Earnings Trigger Chip Selloff

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total transaction of $5,547,872.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,326,071.43. This represents a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,184,361.88. This represents a 14.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock traded down $59.75 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $533.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,008,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,260,349. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $154.46 and a 12 month high of $739.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $499.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $391.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $423.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.11 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend 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 19.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $569.65.

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.