Carmel Capital Partners LLC Sells 2,453 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Carmel Capital Partners reduced its Applied Materials stake by 22.6% in the first quarter, selling 2,453 shares and leaving it with 8,378 shares valued at about $2.86 million.
• Applied Materials has been benefiting from AI-driven optimism, with CEO Gary Dickerson saying chipmakers have strong visibility into demand and that the AI investment cycle could support equipment orders for years.
• The company continues to receive bullish analyst support, including multiple price-target hikes, while its latest earnings beat expectations and management issued Q3 guidance above prior estimates.

Carmel Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 22.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,378 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 2,453 shares during the quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Evolve Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 59.0% during the first quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,531,000. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 82,296 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $21,149,000 after purchasing an additional 3,508 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $1,082,000. Finally, Avity Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 1.1% in the third quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 223,211 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $45,700,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials rallied after CEO Gary Dickerson said chipmakers have “tremendous visibility” into demand, implying the AI investment cycle could support equipment orders for years rather than quarters. Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock Jumps after CEO Says AI Chip Demand Has Years to Run
• Positive Sentiment: Meta Platforms’ reported plan to begin manufacturing an in-house AI chip helped spark a broader rally in semiconductor equipment stocks, including Applied Materials, on expectations that AI infrastructure spending will remain strong. Applied Materials stock jumps as Meta AI chip plan lifts semiconductor names
• Positive Sentiment: Stifel and Needham both raised their price targets on AMAT and kept buy ratings, reinforcing the view that improving fundamentals and AI-driven demand could support further upside. Applied Materials PT Raised to $650 at Stifel
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Materials was removed from several Russell value-oriented indices in late June, a classification change that reflects the stock’s shift toward being viewed more as an AI/semiconductor growth name than a value stock. How Investors Are Reacting To Applied Materials (AMAT) Being Dropped From Key Russell Value Indices
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no reported short interest as of July 10, offering little evidence of bearish positioning from the latest filing.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $602.50 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $517.90 and a 200 day moving average of $402.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $154.46 and a 52 week high of $739.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.57, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. The company'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, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid 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 presently 19.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Truist Financial set a $575.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $589.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 1,695,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,503,625. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total value of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at $79,534,609.56. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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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