Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Holdings Decreased by Capital Advisors Inc. OK

Capital Advisors Inc. OK trimmed its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 324,097 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 51,902 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for about 3.4% of Capital Advisors Inc. OK’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Capital Advisors Inc. OK’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $234,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harborfront Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 34.8% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 93 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $683.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group set a $675.00 target price on Applied Materials and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Applied Materials from $515.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $657.76.

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Semiconductor and AI demand remains strong: Recent coverage highlights Applied Materials’ $9.12 billion third-quarter revenue, up 25% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $3.50, up 41%. Management cited record demand visibility from AI infrastructure, more than 10 new fab projects during the quarter and fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $10.25 billion. The company is also continuing share repurchases and investing $5 billion in its EPIC Center to accelerate semiconductor innovation. The AI Buildout Is Turning Applied Materials Into A Profit Machine
• Positive Sentiment: New board member adds semiconductor expertise: AMAT appointed Akash Palkhiwala, Qualcomm’s CFO and COO, to its board and Audit Committee. His finance, operations and industry experience could strengthen oversight as Applied Materials pursues growth tied to advanced logic, memory and AI chip production. Applied Materials Appoints Akash Palkhiwala to Board of Directors
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market signals elevated uncertainty: A new analysis says options pricing for roughly one year ahead implies a particularly wide potential trading range, extending materially below and above the current level. That suggests investors should expect significant volatility rather than providing a clear directional signal. How Far Applied Materials Stock Can Move In A Year
• Negative Sentiment: CFO share sale may weigh modestly on sentiment: CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 AMAT shares for approximately $3.6 million, reducing his direct holdings by 5.51%. The sale does not alter the company’s operating outlook, but insider selling can create a limited short-term sentiment overhang. SEC Insider Transaction Filing

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total value of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total transaction of $25,264,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at $180,204,069.76. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 284,192 shares of company stock valued at $172,625,209. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $461.67 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $154.46 and a twelve month high of $739.67. The company has a market capitalization of $366.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $550.80 and a 200 day moving average of $456.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The business had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.28%.

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.