McLaughlin Asset Management Inc. Invests $890,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

McLaughlin Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,462 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $890,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

More Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its price target on Applied Materials, reinforcing the view that AI infrastructure spending and memory-chip equipment demand should keep driving revenue growth. Applied Materials surges as Citi lifts target on AI demand boom
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials launched SENZ, a fully integrated visual system for AI smart glasses, and partnered with EssilorLuxottica and Qualcomm, giving investors a potential new long-term growth avenue. Applied Materials (AMAT) Launches SENZ With Qualcomm And EssilorLuxottica For AI Eyewear
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlighted Applied Materials as a beneficiary of the AI equipment super-cycle, with strong earnings, robust wafer-fab equipment demand, and favorable analyst sentiment supporting the rally. Applied Materials: The Cheapest Seat On The AI Equipment Super-Cycle

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, May 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $489.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction 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 approximately $24,326,071.43. The trade was a 18.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,204,069.76. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 189,767 shares of company stock worth $107,769,409. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $617.11 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $489.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s 50-day moving average is $446.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $363.12. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $638.90.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 19.91%.

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.