Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. Acquires 2,077 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 125.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,077 shares during the period. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 85.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $50,267,184,000 after purchasing an additional 32,018,892 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,252,863,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 25,824.4% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,370,167 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $86,610,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357,167 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,512,287,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,645,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,876 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock traded down $20.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $409.29. 8,533,128 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,720,239. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $480.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $485.08. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $203.40 and a 12 month high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market cap of $324.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price (up from $500.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. HC Wainwright set a $850.00 target price on Applied Materials in a report on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $710.00 target price (up from $550.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $575.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $632.70.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials opened its $5 billion EPIC Center in Sunnyvale, California, described as the world’s largest semiconductor equipment and process-technology research facility. The investment should strengthen the company’s ability to develop equipment for advanced chips and capitalize on long-term AI and semiconductor capacity growth. Applied Materials opens $5B semiconductor innovation center
• Positive Sentiment: Needham lowered its Applied Materials price target from $740 to $580 but maintained a “buy” rating, indicating that the recent pullback has created what the firm considers meaningful upside. Other recent commentary also highlights AMAT’s broad equipment portfolio and strategic position in semiconductor manufacturing.
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are evaluating whether the current decline could offer an attractive entry point. Historical rebounds after sharp selloffs, continued semiconductor capacity expansion, and expectations for a sales recovery support the longer-term bullish case. Has Buying Applied Materials Stock’s Dips Paid Off?
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary is mixed: some reports identify Applied Materials as a growth-at-a-reasonable-price opportunity, while others present a more cautious view of technology stocks. ETF activity has also been inconsistent, with 31 funds adding AMAT on October 13 but ETFs collectively selling shares on October 14.
• Negative Sentiment: Chip-equipment stocks are recording unusually long losing streaks as investors question whether AI-related spending can continue at its current pace. Those sector-wide concerns are currently outweighing the potential benefits of the new research center and are contributing to AMAT’s decline. Chip Equipment Stocks Notch Historic Losing Streaks

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total transaction of $3,594,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at $61,637,780.25. This represents a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total transaction of $394,806.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,181 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold a total of 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.