Boston Common Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 138.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,362 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,945 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $15,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 218.8% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 102 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Truist Financial set a $575.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $502.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $593.84.

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $529.66 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $533.12 and its 200 day moving average is $414.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market capitalization of $420.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.57. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. The firm’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, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.75, for a total transaction of $42,587,906.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,695,164 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,503,625. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total transaction of $14,398,392.09. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 146,916 shares in the company, valued at $87,184,361.88. This trade represents a 14.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.