Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock: Mather Group LLC. Increases Holdings

Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 32.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,417 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,494 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $57,993,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,685 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 85.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $50,267,184,000 after buying an additional 32,018,892 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,645,344,000 after buying an additional 1,246,876 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 16.2% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,713,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,576,932,000 after buying an additional 1,073,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $5,252,863,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.8%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $446.63 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $485.07 and a 200-day moving average of $484.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $354.45 billion, a PE ratio of 42.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.60. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $203.40 and a 52 week high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total transaction of $3,594,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 128,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,637,780.25. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total value of $394,806.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,732,245.36. This represents a 18.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its “Outperform” rating and assigned a $600 price target, implying substantial potential upside. Analysts overall see roughly 39% upside based on consensus targets, supported by favorable earnings-estimate revisions. Applied Materials long-term targets
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials unveiled its EPIC semiconductor research and development center, backed by major industry partners including Intel, Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung. The approximately $5 billion initiative is intended to accelerate advanced-chip development and strengthen the company’s position in AI infrastructure. Applied Materials EPIC center
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted potential market-share gains, eBeam equipment revenue of about $2 billion in 2026 and semiconductor-services revenue exceeding $12 billion by 2030. Applied Ventures also invested in Flexcompute to advance AI-powered physics modeling for faster chip research and development. Applied Ventures Flexcompute investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Materials has continued to beat quarterly earnings expectations, but investors are weighing those results against an elevated valuation and concerns about how much future AI spending is already reflected in the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock came under pressure after the investor-day presentation because the 2030 margin and growth targets were viewed as conservative or insufficiently specific. Reports also pointed to an omission that raised concerns about the company’s future outlook, tempering enthusiasm for the otherwise strong AI-demand narrative. Why Applied Materials sank
• Negative Sentiment: Semiconductor-equipment shares broadly sold off as investors took profits after a strong run, with weakness in overseas chip markets adding pressure. Broader technology declines and uncertainty ahead of inflation data further reduced risk appetite. Semiconductor equipment stock selloff

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $642.00 to $563.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 28th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $650.00 to $590.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $683.00 to $641.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $605.00 target price (down from $680.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $640.20.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a global supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat-panel displays and other advanced electronic products. Its technologies help customers build and enhance materials at the nanoscale, supporting processes such as deposition, etching, inspection, metrology and packaging.

The company’s offerings include semiconductor manufacturing systems, process-control and inspection equipment, and services designed to improve the performance, productivity and longevity of production equipment.