Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock Purchased by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 84.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 159,652 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 72,946 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises 0.8% of State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $81,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 85.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $50,267,184,000 after purchasing an additional 32,018,892 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,252,863,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 25,824.4% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,370,167 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $86,610,000 after buying an additional 3,357,167 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,512,287,000. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,645,344,000 after buying an additional 1,246,876 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials unveiled its approximately $5 billion EPIC chip research and development center, backed by customers and partners including Intel, Micron, SK hynix and Samsung. The facility is intended to accelerate chip development and could strengthen AMAT’s strategic position in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Applied Materials EPIC Center article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: RBC reaffirmed an “outperform” rating with a $600 price target, while Cantor Fitzgerald maintained an $850 target. Recent coverage also highlights AMAT’s consecutive earnings beats, expected market-share gains and growth in e-beam equipment and semiconductor services. Applied Materials analyst forecast article
• Neutral Sentiment: Thirty-one exchange-traded funds added Applied Materials exposure on October 13, indicating continued institutional interest, although the ETF activity has not overcome broader selling in chip stocks. ETF additions article
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons with ASML and Broadcom portray AMAT as a diversified semiconductor-equipment leader positioned to benefit from expanding production and AI demand, but they are valuation and investment-opinion pieces rather than new company-specific catalysts. ASML versus Applied Materials article
• Negative Sentiment: The primary pressure is investor disappointment with Applied Materials’ 2030 outlook presented at its investor day. Although management cited strong AI-chip demand, planned market-share gains and more than $12 billion in service revenue by 2030, the guidance was viewed as uncertain or insufficiently ambitious relative to elevated expectations. Why Applied Materials sank article
• Negative Sentiment: AMAT has also been affected by a broad technology and semiconductor selloff, including weakness in Asian chip markets and investor caution ahead of inflation data. The stock’s recent losing streak and retreat below its major moving averages have added technical pressure.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total transaction of $3,594,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at $61,637,780.25. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,877,960. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 3.8%

AMAT stock traded down $16.90 during trading on Thursday, hitting $429.73. 5,735,869 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,855,117. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.04 billion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.60. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.40 and a 1 year high of $739.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $485.07 and a 200-day moving average of $484.96. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 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, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. HC Wainwright set a $850.00 target price on Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $710.00 price target (up from $550.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $645.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Argus set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $637.14.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a global supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat-panel displays and other advanced electronic products. Its technologies help customers build and enhance materials at the nanoscale, supporting processes such as deposition, etching, inspection, metrology and packaging.

The company’s offerings include semiconductor manufacturing systems, process-control and inspection equipment, and services designed to improve the performance, productivity and longevity of production equipment.