Cerity Partners LLC Has $53.51 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208,201 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,567 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $53,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in 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 period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,751 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $2,858,543,000. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,247,838,000 after buying an additional 3,280,730 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total transaction of $25,264,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,204,069.76. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.86, for a total value of $1,247,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 136,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,901,331.18. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,896 shares of company stock worth $27,135,121. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $499.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $396.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.87, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a 50-day moving average of $415.25 and a 200-day moving average of $346.85. 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 fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $525.98.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $480.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Truist Financial set a $575.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Zacks Research downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.13.

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.53 per share, reinforcing its capital-return strategy and signaling confidence in cash generation. Applied Materials Announces Cash Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment remains upbeat on AI-related chip equipment demand, with recent commentary highlighting Applied Materials as a beneficiary of rising logic, DRAM, and advanced packaging spending. Applied Materials jumps 6.8% as AI-driven equipment demand and analyst optimism lift shares
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains constructive, with multiple firms maintaining buy or outperform ratings and several price targets sitting above the current trading range, which can help underpin the stock. Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) Eyes Growing Southeast Asia Workforce by 25%
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports of sharply higher short-interest activity appear data-distorted, but they still reflect ongoing attention from traders betting on semiconductor volatility.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader semiconductor sentiment is mixed: some commentary says the sector may be entering a correction after a strong run, while other notes call recent pullbacks healthy. Semiconductor Index Outlook: Upside Target Reached, Correction Underway
• Negative Sentiment: There is also some caution from insider-sale headlines and valuation-focused articles after AMAT’s strong multi-month run, which could limit upside if investors rotate out of high-multiple semiconductor names.

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.