BAM Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 4,953 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

BAM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,953 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,014,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 3,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $673,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% in the third quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% during the second quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages raised price targets and reiterated overweight/buy views — KeyBanc bumped its target to $380 citing DRAM-driven capacity growth and vertical scaling potential; Needham raised its target to $390. KeyBanc Raises Applied Materials (AMAT) Target to $380, Keeps Overweight Rating Needham & Company LLC Increases Applied Materials Price Target to $390.00
• Positive Sentiment: Shares reached an all‑time high intraday, reflecting strong momentum and demand for semiconductor equipment exposure. Applied Materials stock hits all-time high at $332.31 USD
• Positive Sentiment: Applied’s display segment is rebounding: Zacks notes Q4 display revenue jumped ~68% with stronger OLED and advanced systems demand — a potential multi‑year growth driver beyond chips. Can AMAT Lead the Display Market With Advanced OLED and AR/VR Push?
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 2026 earnings call set for Feb. 12 — investors will focus on revenue guidance, memory demand trends, and China exposure. Applied Materials fiscal Q1 2026 earnings conference call details (company IR)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is broad and bullish overall (many Buy/Overweight ratings and a wide range of targets); median target noted in some aggregation is lower than the newest highs, highlighting dispersion in expectations. Applied Materials announces earnings call (QuiverQuant summary)
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation scrutiny after the rally — several write‑ups flag that shares have run up strongly and investors should reassess forward multiples and upside. Applied Materials (AMAT) Valuation Check After Strong Recent Share Price Gains
• Negative Sentiment: China exposure and recent revenue softness remain a risk: AMAT’s revenue was down ~3.5% YoY in the last quarter, and some industry comparisons note China‑facing headwinds that could limit near‑term upside. Which Semiconductor Equipment Stock Has More Upside in 2026? (MarketBeat)
• Negative Sentiment: At least one retail‑oriented column argues there’s a reason to sell vs. rotate into an alternative, highlighting the risk of buying late in a strong run. 1 Reason to Sell AMAT and 1 Stock to Buy Instead

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $322.47 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $333.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upgraded Applied Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $294.75.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.