Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. Buys 2,077 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 125.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,077 shares during the period. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $57,993,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,685 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 85.4% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,645,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,876 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 16.2% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,713,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,576,932,000 after buying an additional 1,073,879 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $5,252,863,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total value of $394,806.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,181 shares in the company, valued at $1,732,245.36. This trade represents a 18.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,637,780.25. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $515.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 26th. New Street Research decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $632.70.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials opened its $5 billion EPIC Center in Sunnyvale, California, described as the world’s largest semiconductor equipment and process-technology research facility. The investment should strengthen the company’s ability to develop equipment for advanced chips and capitalize on long-term AI and semiconductor capacity growth. Applied Materials opens $5B semiconductor innovation center
• Positive Sentiment: Needham lowered its Applied Materials price target from $740 to $580 but maintained a “buy” rating, indicating that the recent pullback has created what the firm considers meaningful upside. Other recent commentary also highlights AMAT’s broad equipment portfolio and strategic position in semiconductor manufacturing.
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are evaluating whether the current decline could offer an attractive entry point. Historical rebounds after sharp selloffs, continued semiconductor capacity expansion, and expectations for a sales recovery support the longer-term bullish case. Has Buying Applied Materials Stock’s Dips Paid Off?
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary is mixed: some reports identify Applied Materials as a growth-at-a-reasonable-price opportunity, while others present a more cautious view of technology stocks. ETF activity has also been inconsistent, with 31 funds adding AMAT on October 13 but ETFs collectively selling shares on October 14.
• Negative Sentiment: Chip-equipment stocks are recording unusually long losing streaks as investors question whether AI-related spending can continue at its current pace. Those sector-wide concerns are currently outweighing the potential benefits of the new research center and are contributing to AMAT’s decline. Chip Equipment Stocks Notch Historic Losing Streaks

Applied Materials Stock Down 4.8%

AMAT traded down $20.72 on Friday, hitting $409.29. 8,533,128 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,720,239. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $480.52 and its 200-day moving average is $485.08. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $203.40 and a 12 month high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. The company has a market cap of $324.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.28%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.