AIA Group Ltd Purchases Shares of 36,720 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

AIA Group Ltd purchased a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 36,720 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,551,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials News Summary

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

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total transaction of $5,547,872.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,326,071.43. This trade represents a 18.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of Applied Materials 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $570.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $510.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $593.84.

Applied Materials Trading Down 5.6%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $529.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $420.53 billion, a PE ratio of 49.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $154.46 and a 52-week high of $739.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $533.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $413.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Applied Materials Profile

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.