Kentucky Retirement Systems Buys 49,061 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 97.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 99,419 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,061 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises about 1.2% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $33,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,559 shares in the company, valued at $24,326,071.43. This represents a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials has benefited from AI-driven increases in wafer-fabrication spending, supporting demand for its semiconductor manufacturing equipment. A recent fund review cited the company as a beneficiary of rising AI-related capital expenditures. Applied Materials Rose on AI-Driven Wafer Fabrication Spending
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention around AMAT has increased, according to Zacks, but the article provides no new company-specific earnings, guidance or fundamental catalyst. The heightened search interest may reflect volatility and investor efforts to assess the stock’s outlook. Investors Heavily Search Applied Materials
• Negative Sentiment: AMAT is being pulled down with the broader semiconductor group as investors question the sustainability and financing of AI infrastructure spending. Rising competition from China is adding to pressure on chip-equipment shares. Semiconductor Stocks Trade Down
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that China is mass-producing domestic immersion DUV lithography equipment raise a longer-term competitive risk for Applied Materials. Local alternatives could reduce Western suppliers’ access to Chinese fabs, while export controls further complicate the company’s ability to convert AI demand into orders. China’s Domestic Immersion DUV Push
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market selling intensified amid a sharp oil-price increase tied to renewed U.S.-Iran tensions and uncertainty ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision. Falling major indexes reduced risk appetite for high-beta technology and semiconductor stocks such as AMAT. Oil Spikes as Nasdaq 100 Sinks

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $540.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $683.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $599.19.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $436.45 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $547.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $428.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $346.52 billion, a PE ratio of 40.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $154.46 and a one year high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.91%.

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.