HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors reduced its Applied Materials stake by 4% in the second quarter, selling 18,672 shares and retaining 446,525 shares valued at approximately $322.8 million.
• Institutional investors own about 80.6% of Applied Materials, while insiders sold 231,692 shares worth roughly $146.1 million over the past three months.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $658.45. Recent quarterly results also beat estimates, with revenue rising 24.8% year over year to $9.12 billion.

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 446,525 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 18,672 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Applied Materials worth $322,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 70,976.9% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 870,192,678 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $629,149,306,000 after purchasing an additional 868,968,380 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $57,993,650,000 after buying an additional 1,237,685 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Applied Materials by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $8,405,458,000 after buying an additional 17,829,377 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,947,891,000 after buying an additional 373,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $2,858,543,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 146,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,184,361.88. This trade represents a 14.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu Raja sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total value of $6,335,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 346,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at $219,608,106.26. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 231,692 shares of company stock valued at $146,114,059. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Applied Materials from $510.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $720.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $658.45.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven equipment demand remains the main catalyst. Growth in advanced packaging, DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), along with accelerating global fab investment, is strengthening the outlook for Applied Materials’ equipment orders. AMAT Rides on AI-Led WFE Demand: Can it Sustain the Momentum?
• Positive Sentiment: Raised forecasts have driven a major valuation re-rating. Although trailing-twelve-month revenue growth was only 7.8%, management reportedly increased its forecast twice between February and August as semiconductor demand expectations improved. That forward-growth story helps explain the stock’s roughly 180% one-year return. Why Did Applied Materials Stock Nearly Triple On Single-Digit Trailing Revenue Growth?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst expectations are improving. UBS projected strong potential appreciation for AMAT, while another analyst raised the fiscal 2027 EPS estimate, signaling continued confidence in earnings growth and semiconductor capital spending. UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Applied Materials FY2027 EPS Estimate for Applied Materials Boosted by Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation remains a key debate. Despite a recent pullback, AMAT has gained about 237% over five years, leaving investors questioning how much AI and semiconductor-cycle optimism is already reflected in the shares. Can Applied Materials Still Look Cheap After a 237% Run?
• Negative Sentiment: Industry-cycle risks have not disappeared. Optimism about a permanently stronger semiconductor cycle is tempered by potential memory-capacity imbalances, which could pressure chipmakers’ capital spending if supply expands faster than demand. SEMIs CEO Has Watched Four Decades of Chip Cycles

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $454.71 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $360.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.20, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $533.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $461.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.82 and a 12 month high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.28%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMAT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.