Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,123 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 218.8% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 102 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Applied Materials from $570.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $525.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $650.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $593.84.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank raised its FY2026 and FY2027 earnings estimates for Applied Materials and reiterated a Buy rating, signaling confidence in the company’s growth outlook and AI-driven demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials CEO comments reinforcing the AI investment thesis may help support longer-term sentiment around the stock. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted that AMAT has been drawing increased attention from investors, but the piece was mainly a stock-screening update rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary suggested Applied Materials may be trading above fair value after a strong multi-year run, which could limit upside even if earnings remain solid. Article link
• Negative Sentiment: A broad semiconductor selloff is pressuring AMAT along with peers like AMD and Intel, as the market rotates out of chip stocks and into other areas. Article link

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $529.66 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.46 and a 1-year high of $739.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $420.53 billion, a PE ratio of 49.73, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $533.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $414.11.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion for 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%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 19.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,534,609.56. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 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 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.