Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Decreases Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Bradley Foster & Sargent cut its Applied Materials stake by 23.4% in the first quarter, selling 14,813 shares and leaving it with 48,421 shares valued at about $16.55 million.
• Despite some institutional selling, Applied Materials remains heavily owned by institutions, with about 80.56% of shares held by institutional investors, while analysts continue to raise price targets and maintain a Moderate Buy consensus.
• The company reported strong fiscal Q2 results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share payable September 10.

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT decreased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 23.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 48,421 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 14,813 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $16,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 119.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,858,543,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 617.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,869,170,000 after purchasing an additional 7,856,576 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 25,824.4% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,370,167 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $86,610,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357,167 shares during the period. Finally, Coatue Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 78.7% in the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 5,984,332 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,537,913,000 after buying an additional 2,635,284 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials is still viewed favorably versus a peer in advanced packaging, with commentary highlighting its AI-related packaging exposure, broad chipmaking portfolio, and high-margin services as reasons it may be a safer long-term bet. AMAT vs. Q: Which Advanced Packaging Stock is a Safer Bet Right Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to AI-led semiconductor demand, with Applied Materials repeatedly cited as one of the stocks benefiting from ongoing chip investment and stronger equipment spending. Buy These 5 Semiconductor Stocks Charged Up by AI Enthusiasm
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials announced it will report fiscal third-quarter 2026 results on August 13, and recent previews suggest analysts expect another double-digit earnings increase, which can support sentiment ahead of the print. What to Expect From Applied Materials' Next Quarterly Earnings Report
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s short-interest update appears to be data-noisy, showing zero shares outstanding and no meaningful days-to-cover signal, so it is unlikely to be a real trading driver.
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Materials remains part of a broader semiconductor sector that is experiencing profit-taking and valuation-driven consolidation after a powerful AI rally, which is weighing on sentiment across the group. Semiconductor Crossroads: Healthy Consolidation or Deeper Repricing?
• Negative Sentiment: The pullback in semiconductor names suggests investors are locking in gains and reassessing high expectations, which is pressuring AMAT along with the rest of the sector despite solid fundamentals.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $540.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. HC Wainwright set a $850.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a report on Monday, June 29th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $593.84.

Applied Materials Trading Down 4.7%

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $536.25 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $739.67. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $544.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $423.10. 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 company has a market cap of $425.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,204,069.76. This trade 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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