Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Sit Investment Associates Inc.

Sit Investment Associates Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,274 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,210 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $27,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its price target on Applied Materials, reinforcing the view that AI infrastructure spending and memory-chip equipment demand should keep driving revenue growth. Applied Materials surges as Citi lifts target on AI demand boom
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials launched SENZ, a fully integrated visual system for AI smart glasses, and partnered with EssilorLuxottica and Qualcomm, giving investors a potential new long-term growth avenue. Applied Materials (AMAT) Launches SENZ With Qualcomm And EssilorLuxottica For AI Eyewear
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlighted Applied Materials as a beneficiary of the AI equipment super-cycle, with strong earnings, robust wafer-fab equipment demand, and favorable analyst sentiment supporting the rally. Applied Materials: The Cheapest Seat On The AI Equipment Super-Cycle

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.1%

Applied Materials stock opened at $617.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $489.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.46 and a 1-year high of $638.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $446.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $363.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.1 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 19.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $415.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. HSBC started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $517.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $489.16.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.75, for a total value of $42,587,906.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,695,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,006,503,625. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total value of $5,547,872.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,326,071.43. This trade represents a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 189,767 shares of company stock worth $107,769,409 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Profile

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.