Kestra Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 113,148 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,369 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $38,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 30.1% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 3,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Applied Materials by 59.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $77,383,000 after buying an additional 157,426 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 146,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,184,361.88. The trade was a 14.17% decrease in their position. The sale 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 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 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials rallied after CEO Gary Dickerson said chipmakers have “tremendous visibility” into demand, implying the AI investment cycle could support equipment orders for years rather than quarters. Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock Jumps after CEO Says AI Chip Demand Has Years to Run
• Positive Sentiment: Meta Platforms’ reported plan to begin manufacturing an in-house AI chip helped spark a broader rally in semiconductor equipment stocks, including Applied Materials, on expectations that AI infrastructure spending will remain strong. Applied Materials stock jumps as Meta AI chip plan lifts semiconductor names
• Positive Sentiment: Stifel and Needham both raised their price targets on AMAT and kept buy ratings, reinforcing the view that improving fundamentals and AI-driven demand could support further upside. Applied Materials PT Raised to $650 at Stifel
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Materials was removed from several Russell value-oriented indices in late June, a classification change that reflects the stock’s shift toward being viewed more as an AI/semiconductor growth name than a value stock. How Investors Are Reacting To Applied Materials (AMAT) Being Dropped From Key Russell Value Indices
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no reported short interest as of July 10, offering little evidence of bearish positioning from the latest filing.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $525.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.48.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.4%

Applied Materials stock traded up $13.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $602.50. The company had a trading volume of 6,270,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,077,411. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $154.46 and a 12-month high of $739.67. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $517.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $402.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.57, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials’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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.