Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Buys 1,302 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,033 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,302 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises about 1.9% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $16,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 531 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. One Day In July LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. One Day In July LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,082 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 2.1% in the first quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Warther Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Argus raised their price target on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Bank of America lifted 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $593.84.

More Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank raised its FY2026 and FY2027 earnings estimates for Applied Materials and reiterated a Buy rating, signaling confidence in the company’s growth outlook and AI-driven demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials CEO comments reinforcing the AI investment thesis may help support longer-term sentiment around the stock. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted that AMAT has been drawing increased attention from investors, but the piece was mainly a stock-screening update rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary suggested Applied Materials may be trading above fair value after a strong multi-year run, which could limit upside even if earnings remain solid. Article link
• Negative Sentiment: A broad semiconductor selloff is pressuring AMAT along with peers like AMD and Intel, as the market rotates out of chip stocks and into other areas. Article link

Applied Materials Trading Down 5.6%

AMAT opened at $529.66 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $420.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $533.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $413.05. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total value of $6,335,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 346,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,608,106.26. This represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 146,916 shares in the company, valued at $87,184,361.88. The trade was a 14.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.