Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Position Boosted by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Ameritas Advisory Services increased its Applied Materials stake by 206% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 11,032 shares valued at approximately $7.98 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 80.56% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $658.45; several firms recently raised their targets, though Bank of America reduced its target to $650.
• Applied Materials reported quarterly revenue of $9.12 billion and earnings of $3.50 per share, exceeding estimates, while revenue grew 24.8% year over year. However, insiders sold 231,692 shares worth approximately $146.1 million over the past 90 days.

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 206.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,032 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,427 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 3,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 59.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $77,383,000 after buying an additional 157,426 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Truist Financial set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $720.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $658.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total value of $3,594,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 $24,326,071.43. This represents a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 231,692 shares of company stock worth $146,114,059. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $454.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $360.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.20, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $528.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $462.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.82 and a twelve month high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The company had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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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