Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Newly Acquired by Polaris Financial Partners

Polaris Financial Partners acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,322 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $676,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. CX Institutional increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 333.3% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 25,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,631,000 after buying an additional 19,886 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 9.6% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 446 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.5% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 215,839 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $156,051,000 after acquiring an additional 20,447 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 7.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,068,335 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $715,458,000 after acquiring an additional 70,642 shares during the period. Finally, Andra AP fonden grew its position in Applied Materials by 34.4% during the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 126,229 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $91,264,000 after acquiring an additional 32,340 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective (down from $790.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. HC Wainwright set a $850.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $642.00 to $563.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $629.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,877,960. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total transaction of $3,594,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,637,780.25. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $10.74 on Friday, hitting $540.04. The company had a trading volume of 5,898,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,949,976. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $203.40 and a 12-month high of $739.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $428.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.56, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $485.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $475.44.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The company’s revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.28%.

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded AI packaging partnership: BE Semiconductor is joining Applied Materials’ EPIC Center as an Innovation Partner. The collaboration will target 3D integrated circuits, logic and memory integration, photonics, hybrid bonding, thermo-compression bonding, and die-on-wafer, die-on-die, and die-on-panel architectures. These technologies could benefit from rising demand for AI infrastructure and advanced chip packaging. Applied Materials and Besi expand strategic partnership
• Positive Sentiment: AI and memory demand could extend growth: An investor letter highlighted continued expansion in AI computing and semiconductor memory shortages as factors that may support Applied Materials’ equipment demand. The company’s broad exposure to chip fabrication and packaging gives it multiple ways to participate in AI-related capital spending. AI compute expansion and memory shortages
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst target remains above the recent trading level: Analysts cited in a market report have an average price target of $629.38, suggesting potential upside if Applied Materials meets expectations for continued earnings growth. Applied Materials average target price
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and comparisons: Recent commentary describes Applied Materials as offering broad AI-driven growth and a lower valuation than some semiconductor-equipment alternatives, although its elevated earnings multiple means further gains likely depend on sustained execution and strong industry spending.
• Negative Sentiment: Execution risk remains: Applied Materials’ record equipment sales could reflect unusually strong conditions rather than a permanent new baseline. Investors should watch whether AI-related demand, memory spending, and advanced-packaging adoption translate into durable orders and margins. What investors may be overlooking

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.