Independent Financial Group LLC Takes $3.87 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 11,323 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,870,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 218.8% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 102 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $529.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $533.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $413.05. The stock has a market cap of $420.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.73, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $154.46 and a 52 week high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Trending Headlines about 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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Truist Financial set a $575.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $593.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.75, for a total value of $42,587,906.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,695,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,006,503,625. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total transaction of $25,264,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at $180,204,069.76. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is currently 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.