Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 34,952 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its Applied Materials stake by 39.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 34,952 additional shares and bringing its total to 123,826 shares worth about $31.8 million.
• Applied Materials reported record second-quarter results, beating both earnings and revenue estimates and lifting guidance, with management pointing to strong AI infrastructure spending as a major growth driver.
• Analysts have turned more bullish after the earnings beat, with several firms raising price targets; the stock still faces some pressure as investors worry valuation may already reflect much of the strong outlook.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 39.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,826 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 34,952 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in Applied Materials were worth $31,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $55,180,000 after buying an additional 17,397 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 82.2% in the third quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $5,512,000 after acquiring an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 21.8% in the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $19,801,000 after acquiring an additional 17,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $1,531,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials posted record Q2 results, beating EPS and revenue expectations and lifting its outlook, with management citing strong AI infrastructure spending as a key growth driver. Applied Materials Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street turned more bullish after the report, with multiple firms raising price targets, including Bank of America, JPMorgan, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, Needham, and KeyCorp, reinforcing confidence in multi-year earnings growth. Applied Materials Sees Multi-Year AI Boom Driving Record Revenue And Growth Through 2028
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts highlighted a durable AI-driven semiconductor upcycle, suggesting Applied Materials could sustain elevated demand and margins through 2027-2028. Krish Sankar Reaffirms Buy on Applied Materials
• Neutral Sentiment: The broader market backdrop is weaker, with major indexes down as Treasury yields and oil prices rise, which is adding headwinds for high-valuation tech and AI stocks. Stock Market Today: Dow Falls As Oil Prices, Yields Jump; Applied Materials, Nvidia, Cerebras Slide
• Negative Sentiment: Even with the strong earnings report, the stock is slipping as investors rotate out after a sharp year-to-date rally, showing some concern that expectations may already be very high. Applied Materials slips despite record quarter and strong outlook (AMAT)

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $436.62 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.47 and a 12-month high of $448.45. The company has a market capitalization of $346.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.66. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $379.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $320.06.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $415.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $463.89.

Insider Activity

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