Meitav Investment House Ltd. Sells 973 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Meitav Investment House Ltd. lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,949 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 973 shares during the quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $969,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 7,874 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Finally, Signet Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 42.1% during the 1st quarter. Signet Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,124 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. HSBC began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $517.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $569.65.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $554.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $440.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $154.46 and a twelve month high of $739.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $506.04 and a 200-day moving average of $396.31. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials unveiled SENZ, an AI-powered platform designed to speed development of smart glasses, which supports the company’s positioning in next-generation AI hardware and could expand long-term growth opportunities. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more constructive, with Morgan Stanley raising its price target to $647 and Goldman Sachs also boosting its target, reinforcing optimism around AMAT’s earnings momentum and AI-driven demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted AMAT as a Strong Buy momentum stock, noting its strong rebound from the 52-week low and continued support from broad AI-related equipment demand. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage noted that AMAT had been one of the strongest stocks in the semiconductor group before today’s pullback, suggesting the move may reflect a short-term cooldown rather than a change in the longer-term trend. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are falling alongside the broader chip sector, with investors rotating out of semiconductor names amid an industry-wide tech selloff and caution tied to memory-chip sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Another market recap said AMAT declined more than the broader market, adding to near-term downside pressure even though the company’s fundamentals remain strong. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total transaction of $6,335,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,608,106.26. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company 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.