Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. Acquires New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional acquired 5,787 Applied Materials shares worth approximately $2.96 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.56% of AMAT.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable but mixed, with an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a $637.14 price target; recommendations range from “Strong Buy” to “Hold.”
• Applied Materials beat quarterly expectations with $3.50 in EPS and $9.12 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 24.8% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, representing a 0.5% yield.

Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,787 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,959,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 85.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $50,267,184,000 after purchasing an additional 32,018,892 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,252,863,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,512,287,000. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Applied Materials by 19.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $5,645,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,876 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $710.00 target price (up from $550.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, New Street Research reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $637.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $430.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $483.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $485.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $203.40 and a 52-week high of $739.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42.

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. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 18.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total transaction of $3,594,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at $61,637,780.25. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,877,960. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials unveiled its approximately $5 billion EPIC Center in Sunnyvale, California, described as the world’s largest semiconductor equipment and process-technology research facility. The center, supported by companies including Intel, Micron, SK hynix, and Samsung, is intended to accelerate chip development and strengthen AMAT’s long-term position in advanced manufacturing. Applied Materials opens $5B semiconductor innovation center
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an Outperform rating and set a $600 price target. Other coverage highlights AMAT’s fifth consecutive earnings beat, improving earnings estimates, and what analysts view as attractive upside after the stock’s recent decline. Applied Materials could nearly double within 12 months
• Positive Sentiment: AMAT is being cited as a growth-at-a-reasonable-price semiconductor stock, supported by its broad wafer-fabrication equipment portfolio and expected benefits from expanding chip and AI infrastructure capacity. ASML vs. Applied Materials
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed: some firms remain bullish, while others are conflicted on the technology sector and AMAT specifically. A report also noted that 31 ETFs added AMAT shares, indicating continued institutional interest but not necessarily a near-term catalyst. Analysts conflicted on technology names
• Negative Sentiment: AMAT’s decline followed a six-session losing streak and weakness across chip stocks. Investor Day disclosures, including the company’s optical-inspection expansion and long-term targets, have not yet overcome investor concerns about near-term execution, elevated valuation, and semiconductor-sector volatility. Applied Materials drops during Investor Day

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a global supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat-panel displays and other advanced electronic products. Its technologies help customers build and enhance materials at the nanoscale, supporting processes such as deposition, etching, inspection, metrology and packaging.

The company's offerings include semiconductor manufacturing systems, process-control and inspection equipment, and services designed to improve the performance, productivity and longevity of production equipment.

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