Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Sells 980 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,053 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 980 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,731,523,000 after purchasing an additional 330,197 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 40.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after buying an additional 3,583,751 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Applied Materials by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,947,891,000 after buying an additional 373,012 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,858,543,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials rallied after CEO Gary Dickerson said chipmakers have “tremendous visibility” into demand, implying the AI investment cycle could support equipment orders for years rather than quarters. Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock Jumps after CEO Says AI Chip Demand Has Years to Run
• Positive Sentiment: Meta Platforms’ reported plan to begin manufacturing an in-house AI chip helped spark a broader rally in semiconductor equipment stocks, including Applied Materials, on expectations that AI infrastructure spending will remain strong. Applied Materials stock jumps as Meta AI chip plan lifts semiconductor names
• Positive Sentiment: Stifel and Needham both raised their price targets on AMAT and kept buy ratings, reinforcing the view that improving fundamentals and AI-driven demand could support further upside. Applied Materials PT Raised to $650 at Stifel
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Materials was removed from several Russell value-oriented indices in late June, a classification change that reflects the stock’s shift toward being viewed more as an AI/semiconductor growth name than a value stock. How Investors Are Reacting To Applied Materials (AMAT) Being Dropped From Key Russell Value Indices
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no reported short interest as of July 10, offering little evidence of bearish positioning from the latest filing.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Applied Materials from $510.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $502.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.48.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $13.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $602.50. 6,270,022 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,077,411. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $517.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $402.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $478.36 billion, a PE ratio of 56.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $154.46 and a one year high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly 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, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given 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 is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,204,069.76. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.