Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,391 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,729,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harborfront Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 34.8% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 93 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Argus set a $600.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $646.00 to $642.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Craig Hallum boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $657.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total transaction of $14,398,392.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,184,361.88. The trade was a 14.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total transaction of $5,547,872.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,326,071.43. The trade was a 18.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 284,192 shares of company stock worth $172,625,209 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 4.3%

AMAT opened at $461.67 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $550.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $456.77. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $739.67. The company has a market cap of $366.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Applied Materials News Roundup

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

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.