WealthPLAN Partners LLC Takes $760,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

WealthPLAN Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 2,223 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $760,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Evolve Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 59.0% in the first quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $1,531,000. World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 82,296 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $21,149,000 after buying an additional 3,508 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $1,082,000. Finally, Avity Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 223,211 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $45,700,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total transaction of $25,264,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,204,069.76. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total value of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. This trade represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $517.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $440.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $569.65.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $554.50 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $440.25 billion, a PE ratio of 52.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $154.46 and a 12 month high of $739.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $506.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $396.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

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.