Element Capital Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Element Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 5,805 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,492,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Applied Materials by 4.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 21.8% in the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,801,000 after buying an additional 17,288 shares during the period. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,531,000. Avity Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.1% during the third quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 223,211 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $45,700,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the period. Finally, Baker Chad R raised its position in Applied Materials by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Baker Chad R now owns 16,530 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,297,000 after acquiring an additional 7,170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its price target on Applied Materials, boosting confidence that AI infrastructure spending and demand for memory-chip manufacturing tools will keep growth strong. Applied Materials surges as Citi lifts target on AI demand boom
• Positive Sentiment: The company unveiled SENZ, an integrated AI/AR smart-glasses visual platform, expanding its story beyond semiconductor equipment into next-generation optics and wearable tech. EssilorLuxottica and Applied Materials Join Forces to Advance Augmented Reality Optics Platforms for Next-Generation Smart Glasses
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials and EssilorLuxottica announced a long-term partnership to develop AR and AI smart-eyewear optics, suggesting an additional growth avenue and validating AMAT’s materials expertise. EssilorLuxottica, Applied Materials strike deal to develop smart glasses, AR technology
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted record highs and strong momentum for chip-equipment stocks, with AMAT benefiting from the broader AI-driven rally in semiconductor capital equipment. Applied Materials Stock Is One Of the S&P 500 Leaders Today. It’s AI.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. B. Riley Financial raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $465.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $489.16.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total value of $25,264,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,204,069.76. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 189,767 shares of company stock worth $107,769,409. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $592.92 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $441.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $360.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $154.46 and a 52 week high of $623.35. 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 cap of $470.75 billion, a PE ratio of 55.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a 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%.

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.