Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC Takes $9.31 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 27,236 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,309,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arjuna Capital lifted its position in Applied Materials by 2.4% in the first quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 9,754 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,334,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 49,033 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,759,000 after purchasing an additional 1,302 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,823 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,332,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 185.9% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 292,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $99,901,000 after buying an additional 190,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,912 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $529.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $420.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.57. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $533.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $413.05. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.46 and a 1-year high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,534,609.56. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total transaction of $25,264,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at $180,204,069.76. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 price target on Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. HSBC started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $517.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial set a $575.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.84.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank raised its FY2026 and FY2027 earnings estimates for Applied Materials and reiterated a Buy rating, signaling confidence in the company’s growth outlook and AI-driven demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials CEO comments reinforcing the AI investment thesis may help support longer-term sentiment around the stock. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted that AMAT has been drawing increased attention from investors, but the piece was mainly a stock-screening update rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary suggested Applied Materials may be trading above fair value after a strong multi-year run, which could limit upside even if earnings remain solid. Article link
• Negative Sentiment: A broad semiconductor selloff is pressuring AMAT along with peers like AMD and Intel, as the market rotates out of chip stocks and into other areas. Article link

About Applied Materials

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.