Advisory Resource Group Has $7.19 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Advisory Resource Group trimmed its Applied Materials stake by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,273 shares and leaving it with 27,991 shares worth about $7.19 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 80.56% of Applied Materials shares held by hedge funds and other investors; several major firms, including Vanguard and Capital Research, increased their positions.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with multiple firms raising price targets and 27 analysts rating the stock a Buy versus eight Hold ratings, giving Applied Materials a consensus Moderate Buy and a $483.03 price target.

Advisory Resource Group cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,991 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 3,273 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises 1.3% of Advisory Resource Group's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Advisory Resource Group's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $19,731,523,000 after acquiring an additional 330,197 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 17,829,377 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,751 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,858,543,000. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,247,838,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,730 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Truist Financial set a $575.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $502.00 price objective (up from $454.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $483.03.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total value of $116,370.96. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,280 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,858,461.60. This represents a 5.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.86, for a total value of $1,247,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 136,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,901,331.18. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,896 shares of company stock valued at $27,135,121. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $552.64 on Friday. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $422.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $351.11. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $154.46 and a one year high of $557.62. The firm has a market cap of $438.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Applied Materials News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target on Applied Materials, adding to the bullish analyst backdrop and helping reinforce the stock’s upside momentum. Top 5 Strong Buy Stocks to Invest In
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays reiterated an Overweight rating on Applied Materials, citing continued investment in new chip supply and AI infrastructure demand. Applied Materials and KLA Are Surging. Why You Should Buy the Stocks, Says This Analyst.
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials is being highlighted as a key beneficiary of high-bandwidth memory and broader AI hardware spending, which supports long-term semiconductor equipment demand. Applied Materials (AMAT) Is One Of the Best High-Bandwidth Memory Stocks To Buy
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s new $500 million Singapore manufacturing expansion is being viewed as a strategic move to support AI chip demand and expand capacity for future growth. Applied Materials Expands Singapore Manufacturing to Support AI Chip Demand

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.

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