New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Has $28.55 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,486 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for about 0.7% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $28,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 4.3% during the second quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Innovative Asset Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Innovative Asset Advisors Group LLC now owns 961 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $695,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $725,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 13.0% during the second quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total value of $5,547,872.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,326,071.43. This trade represents a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,184,361.88. This represents a 14.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 284,192 shares of company stock worth $172,625,209. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Semiconductor and AI demand remains strong: Recent coverage highlights Applied Materials’ $9.12 billion third-quarter revenue, up 25% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $3.50, up 41%. Management cited record demand visibility from AI infrastructure, more than 10 new fab projects during the quarter and fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $10.25 billion. The company is also continuing share repurchases and investing $5 billion in its EPIC Center to accelerate semiconductor innovation. The AI Buildout Is Turning Applied Materials Into A Profit Machine
• Positive Sentiment: New board member adds semiconductor expertise: AMAT appointed Akash Palkhiwala, Qualcomm’s CFO and COO, to its board and Audit Committee. His finance, operations and industry experience could strengthen oversight as Applied Materials pursues growth tied to advanced logic, memory and AI chip production. Applied Materials Appoints Akash Palkhiwala to Board of Directors
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market signals elevated uncertainty: A new analysis says options pricing for roughly one year ahead implies a particularly wide potential trading range, extending materially below and above the current level. That suggests investors should expect significant volatility rather than providing a clear directional signal. How Far Applied Materials Stock Can Move In A Year
• Negative Sentiment: CFO share sale may weigh modestly on sentiment: CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 AMAT shares for approximately $3.6 million, reducing his direct holdings by 5.51%. The sale does not alter the company’s operating outlook, but insider selling can create a limited short-term sentiment overhang. SEC Insider Transaction Filing

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. UBS Group set a $675.00 target price on Applied Materials and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, August 3rd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $575.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $657.76.

Applied Materials Stock Down 4.3%

AMAT opened at $461.67 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $154.46 and a twelve month high of $739.67. The firm has a market cap of $366.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $550.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $456.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.28%.

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.