Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock Bought by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 997.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,509 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,098 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $57,993,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,685 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 85.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $50,267,184,000 after buying an additional 32,018,892 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in Applied Materials by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,645,344,000 after buying an additional 1,246,876 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,713,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,576,932,000 after buying an additional 1,073,879 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,252,863,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 25,544 shares in the company, valued at $11,877,960. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This represents a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials’ planned move to raise its Besi stake to 20% is strengthening its exposure to hybrid bonding, a packaging technology that could benefit from rising AI-chip complexity. TIKR describes a bullish long-term scenario, with a potential price target of approximately $806 versus a roughly $628 Wall Street target. Applied Materials hybrid bonding analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights a quarter with 51% growth and argues that AMAT trades at about 23 times forward earnings, a valuation that may look reasonable if AI-related semiconductor-equipment demand remains strong. The company also recently exceeded earnings and revenue estimates and issued fourth-quarter EPS guidance of $3.82–$4.22. Applied Materials growth and valuation analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: AMAT is attracting unusually high investor attention, but the Zacks reports primarily review the company’s prospects rather than identify a new fundamental catalyst. Zacks Applied Materials investor attention report
• Negative Sentiment: Compared with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Applied Materials has shown a flatter revenue trajectory and less consistent quarter-over-quarter growth. That comparison may reinforce concerns that AMAT’s elevated valuation already discounts substantial AI-driven demand. Applied Materials versus Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. New Street Research reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Erste Group Bank cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $710.00 target price (up from $550.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $632.70.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $390.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $457.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $443.63. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $203.40 and a 52-week high of $739.67. The firm has a market cap of $309.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.63, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.28%.

Applied Materials Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a technology company that supplies equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its products help customers fabricate the integrated circuits and other components used in computers, mobile devices, data centers, automobiles and a range of connected technologies.

The company’s offerings include systems for materials engineering, wafer fabrication, inspection and process control, along with equipment and services designed to improve manufacturing productivity and yield.