Midwest Professional Planners LTD. Lowers Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lowered its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,035 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,195 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for 3.2% of Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $16,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,825 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,934,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. LGL Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $226,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 235.3% during the second quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,179,000 after purchasing an additional 3,085 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 17.0% during the second quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 6,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,859,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $502,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $441.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $544.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $459.28. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $154.46 and a 52-week high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $350.65 billion, a PE ratio of 38.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.28%.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $695 and maintained a Buy rating, implying substantial potential upside from recent trading levels. The upgrade reflects continued confidence in Applied Materials’ semiconductor-equipment business. Tickerreport.com article
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group lifted its FY2027 earnings-per-share forecast to $18.56 from $17.13. Although the firm retained a Hold rating, the higher estimate suggests improving expectations for long-term demand and profitability.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts continue to describe Applied Materials’ longer-term prospects favorably, with the company viewed as a beneficiary of semiconductor and artificial-intelligence infrastructure investment. Comparisons with Corning also highlight AMAT’s exposure to the chip-manufacturing equipment side of the AI supply chain. Corning versus Applied Materials article
• Negative Sentiment: Higher oil prices and a global bond selloff pushed the 10-year Treasury yield toward 4.79%. Rising yields increase corporate financing costs and reduce the present value of future earnings, creating pressure on higher-valuation technology and semiconductor stocks. Semiconductor stocks trade down article
• Negative Sentiment: Semiconductor stocks broadly declined as investors reassessed expensive growth stocks in response to the jump in long-term interest rates. Applied Materials’ elevated valuation and relatively high market sensitivity make it vulnerable to this risk-off rotation. Semiconductor stocks slide article

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. KeyCorp upped their price target on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Craig Hallum raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Applied Materials from $650.00 to $590.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total transaction of $6,335,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,608,106.26. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 281,692 shares of company stock valued at $171,378,059. 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.