Moran Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Moran Wealth Management cut its holdings by 10.0%, selling 7,116 shares and leaving it with 63,721 Applied Materials shares valued at about $16.38 million at the end of the quarter.
• Other large institutions aggressively bought shares—Capital Research (+225.4% to 14.88M shares), Ameriprise, Sanders, VanEck and UBS among them—so institutional investors now own ~80.56% of AMAT stock.
• Applied Materials posted an EPS beat ($2.38 vs. $2.21) while revenue declined ~2.1% YoY, set Q2 guidance of $2.44–$2.84, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53, and is supported by new next‑gen chip tools and potential large customers (e.g., Terafab), though near‑term demand and valuation competition are risks.

Moran Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 7,116 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $16,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Applied Materials by 225.4% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,046,057,000 after buying an additional 10,305,182 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,563,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,751 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 42.6% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,247,838,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,730 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,552,132 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,160,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,681,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 617.2% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: New tools for next‑gen chips: AMAT unveiled the Precision Selective Nitride PECVD and Trillium ALD systems aimed at 2nm AI and HPC chips — this strengthens its content per chip and positions it to capture AI/HPC node transitions. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Potential large customer for fabs: Bloomberg/press reports say Elon Musk’s Terafab team has contacted AMAT (among others) for equipment quotes — if that project proceeds it could add meaningful new demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness: B. Riley raised its price target on AMAT to $485 (Buy), reflecting a multi‑year AI-related outlook upgrade that supports higher valuations. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive industry signals: peers TSMC and (expected) Lam Research results point to strong AI/HPC and DRAM spending, which is supportive for AMAT as an equipment supplier. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum & coverage: multiple Zacks pieces note heavy investor interest and recent strong short‑term performance (momentum), which can amplify moves but may also lead to volatile reversals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and valuation pressure: relative comparisons (NVDA vs AMAT) and broader peer valuations (ASML/US peers) highlight that investors may prefer higher‑growth alternatives like NVIDIA, which could limit further multiple expansion for AMAT. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term softness in revenue: most recent quarter showed slight year‑over‑year revenue decline (about -2.1%), so while earnings beat and guidance were constructive, demand remains lumpy and could lead to volatility if orders don’t accelerate.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $396.94 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $359.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.65. The firm has a market cap of $315.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.63, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $132.80 and a one year high of $407.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $368.29.

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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