Amundi Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Amundi increased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,561,331 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 312,789 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises approximately 0.6% of Amundi's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Amundi owned about 0.83% of Applied Materials worth $2,242,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 3,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 59.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $77,383,000 after acquiring an additional 157,426 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials has benefited from AI-driven spending on advanced wafer fabrication and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. A Columbia Threadneedle investor letter highlighted the company’s exposure to long-term AI infrastructure growth. Applied Materials Rose on AI-Driven Wafer Fabrication Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to see potential for Applied Materials to outperform upcoming earnings expectations, supported by demand from AI, cloud computing, memory and storage customers. The company also recently exceeded consensus estimates for revenue and earnings, with revenue growth accelerating year over year.
• Positive Sentiment: Several Wall Street analysts have issued upgrades, while investors point to strong memory-chip demand as a potential catalyst. However, the stock’s elevated valuation leaves it sensitive to any slowdown in growth expectations. Applied Materials Stock Keeps Winning Upgrades
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Materials was identified as one of several semiconductor companies with a positive earnings-prediction signal ahead of its quarterly report, but the forecast is not a guarantee of results. 3 Semiconductor Stocks Likely to Outpace Q2 Earnings Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: The broader AI-chip group has extended its selloff as investors question whether current AI infrastructure spending can be funded at its current pace. Applied Materials is being pulled lower alongside Nvidia, AMD and other semiconductor stocks. AI Chip Stocks Tumble as Nvidia, AMD Lead Market Selloff Over Spending Fears
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that China is mass-producing domestic immersion DUV lithography equipment raise concerns that local alternatives could reduce demand for U.S. chip-equipment suppliers. Export controls and geopolitical restrictions could further limit Applied Materials’ access to Chinese customers. How China’s Domestic Immersion DUV Push Has Changed Applied Materials’ Investment Story

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Truist Financial set a $575.00 target price on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $599.19.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total value of $25,264,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at $180,204,069.76. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.75, for a total transaction of $42,587,906.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,695,164 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,006,503,625. This trade represents a 4.06% 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 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $476.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $378.29 billion, a PE ratio of 44.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.46 and a 1-year high of $739.67. The company's fifty day moving average price is $547.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $426.93.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue 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 research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.91%.

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.

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