Equitable Holdings Inc. Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Equitable Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,075 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,731,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Harborfront Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Semiconductor and AI demand remains strong: Recent coverage highlights Applied Materials’ $9.12 billion third-quarter revenue, up 25% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $3.50, up 41%. Management cited record demand visibility from AI infrastructure, more than 10 new fab projects during the quarter and fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $10.25 billion. The company is also continuing share repurchases and investing $5 billion in its EPIC Center to accelerate semiconductor innovation. The AI Buildout Is Turning Applied Materials Into A Profit Machine
• Positive Sentiment: New board member adds semiconductor expertise: AMAT appointed Akash Palkhiwala, Qualcomm’s CFO and COO, to its board and Audit Committee. His finance, operations and industry experience could strengthen oversight as Applied Materials pursues growth tied to advanced logic, memory and AI chip production. Applied Materials Appoints Akash Palkhiwala to Board of Directors
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market signals elevated uncertainty: A new analysis says options pricing for roughly one year ahead implies a particularly wide potential trading range, extending materially below and above the current level. That suggests investors should expect significant volatility rather than providing a clear directional signal. How Far Applied Materials Stock Can Move In A Year
• Negative Sentiment: CFO share sale may weigh modestly on sentiment: CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 AMAT shares for approximately $3.6 million, reducing his direct holdings by 5.51%. The sale does not alter the company’s operating outlook, but insider selling can create a limited short-term sentiment overhang. SEC Insider Transaction Filing

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. HC Wainwright set a $850.00 price target on Applied Materials in a report on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $740.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $657.76.

Applied Materials Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $461.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $550.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $456.77. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $154.46 and a 52-week high of $739.67. The firm has a market cap of $366.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The business had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at $79,534,609.56. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at $180,204,069.76. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 284,192 shares of company stock worth $172,625,209 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.