DJE Kapital AG Raises Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

DJE Kapital AG lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 114.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,974 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,529 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises about 1.0% of DJE Kapital AG’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. DJE Kapital AG’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $44,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,731,523,000 after buying an additional 330,197 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,405,458,000 after buying an additional 17,829,377 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,947,891,000 after acquiring an additional 373,012 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,858,543,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,688,232 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,746,769,000 after acquiring an additional 1,558,749 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% 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 joined CuspAI’s newly launched AI Materials Foundry as a founding member, a move that could help accelerate semiconductor materials discovery and reinforce AMAT’s role in next-generation chip manufacturing. Applied Materials Joins CuspAI Foundry To Speed Semiconductor Materials Discovery
• Positive Sentiment: Industry commentary from Zacks highlighted AMAT as one of several semiconductor names benefiting from the growing proliferation of AI, which continues to support demand for advanced chips and equipment. 3 Stocks to Buy From the Prospering Semiconductor Industry
• Positive Sentiment: Another Zacks piece pointed to bullish Wall Street views on Applied Materials, suggesting analysts still see solid longer-term fundamentals for the stock. Should You Invest in Applied Materials Based on Bullish Wall Street Views?
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Materials continues to be viewed favorably by brokerages overall, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, which helps support sentiment but is not a fresh catalyst. Applied Materials Given Consensus Rating of Moderate Buy by Brokerages
• Negative Sentiment: InvestorPlace flagged a bearish seasonal signal for AMAT heading into late July, which may be pressuring sentiment in the near term. Three Stocks Just Flashed Seasonal Signals
• Negative Sentiment: AMAT also appears to be moving with the broader semiconductor downturn, as the SOX index has fallen into a bear market and investors worry the AI-driven rally may be losing momentum. Semiconductor stocks enter bear market: Is bubble burst next?

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $517.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley Financial increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $525.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 14.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $525.70 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $534.76 and a 200-day moving average of $415.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $417.38 billion, a PE ratio of 49.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.46 and a 1-year high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 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 issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend 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.