AE Wealth Management LLC Purchases 29,141 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 14%, buying 29,141 shares to hold 238,003 shares worth about $61.17 million per its latest 13F filing.
• Insider selling was notable: Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares and CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares, with insiders disposing of 12,003 shares valued at roughly $4.48 million in the last quarter.
• Analysts have grown more bullish after Applied beat the quarter (EPS $2.38 vs. $2.21) and set Q2 guidance of $2.44–2.84; several price targets were raised (Susquehanna to $500) and the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with a $368.29 target, while the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53.

AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 238,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 29,141 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $61,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the transaction, the director owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $368.29.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.1%

Applied Materials stock opened at $389.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.80 and a 12 month high of $407.29. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $358.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $293.32. The firm has a market cap of $309.43 billion, a PE ratio of 39.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.64.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 21.70%.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: New product catalysts — AMAT unveiled two chipmaking systems aimed at 2nm AI and HPC nodes (Precision Selective Nitride PECVD and Trillium ALD), which support stronger exposure to AI/HPC demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness — B. Riley raised its price target to $485 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing a multi-year upside from AI-related investment cycles. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Industry demand signals — TSMC’s upbeat outlook and broader DRAM/data-center coverage stories support secular demand for wafer-fab equipment suppliers like AMAT. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Potential new customer outreach — Bloomberg/Yahoo report Elon Musk’s Terafab team has contacted equipment suppliers including Applied Materials for quotes; this signals possible future demand but timing and scale are uncertain. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum coverage — Zacks notes AMAT was up ~14.6% over one week, making it a momentum candidate; that rapid move can attract both buyers and near-term profit-takers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer/valuation context — ASML’s narrowing premium vs. U.S. peers and other sector pieces provide background on relative valuations but don’t directly change AMAT’s fundamentals today. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Relative investment preference for NVIDIA — a Zacks comparison argues NVIDIA is the better buy now due to stronger data-center dominance and valuation, which could divert investor flows away from AMAT despite AMAT’s exposure to AI. Article Title

Applied Materials Company 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.

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