Gateway Wealth Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Gateway Wealth Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 38.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,367 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,113 shares during the period. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,405,458,000 after acquiring an additional 17,829,377 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $2,858,543,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 617.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,869,170,000 after purchasing an additional 7,856,576 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 25,824.4% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,370,167 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $86,610,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coatue Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 5,984,332 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,537,913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,635,284 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $646.00 to $642.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $515.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Craig Hallum increased their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $640.17.

More Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Record quarterly performance: Fiscal Q3 revenue rose 24.8% year over year to $9.12 billion, ahead of the $8.99 billion consensus estimate, while adjusted EPS of $3.50 exceeded expectations. AI infrastructure demand, advanced packaging and memory spending supported growth. Applied Materials Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y
• Positive Sentiment: Above-consensus outlook: Management projected fiscal Q4 revenue of approximately $9.8 billion to $10.8 billion and EPS of $3.82 to $4.22, both above analyst expectations. The company also pointed to stronger systems growth and unusually long customer visibility into fiscal 2027 and beyond. Applied Materials Forecasts Quarterly Revenue Above Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and institutional support: JPMorgan, RBC, TD Cowen, B. Riley, Needham and other firms maintained positive ratings or raised price targets. Soros Capital also reportedly added AMAT among several semiconductor positions, reinforcing the longer-term AI and chip-cycle investment case. Soros Capital Loads Up on Semiconductor Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Options imply a possible rebound: Derivatives-market data indicates traders expect the pullback could be temporary, although elevated volatility reflects uncertainty over the stock’s near-term direction. Applied Materials Options Data
• Negative Sentiment: Expectations were exceptionally high: Despite the earnings beat and upbeat guidance, investors wanted faster growth and clearer evidence that AMAT is outpacing rivals in semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Concerns about competition, margins and the pace of systems growth overshadowed the headline results. Applied Materials Slips as Investors Seek Faster Growth
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market pressure added to selling: Weaker July retail-sales data, profit-taking after record highs and a semiconductor-sector selloff weighed on AMAT and other AI-related stocks.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $507.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $402.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $154.46 and a 1-year high of $739.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $564.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $444.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 39.58%. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total value of $14,704,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,599,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,236,570.46. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the business’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 value of $5,547,872.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,326,071.43. This trade represents a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.