Park Place Capital Corp Grows Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Park Place Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 340.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,977 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,619 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 119.8% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,858,543,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 617.2% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 7,856,576 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 25,824.4% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,370,167 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $86,610,000 after acquiring an additional 3,357,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coatue Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 78.7% during the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 5,984,332 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,537,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,635,284 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares in the company, valued at $87,184,361.88. This represents a 14.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.75, for a total transaction of $42,587,906.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,695,164 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,503,625. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 276,692 shares of company stock worth $169,030,834. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright set a $850.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, June 29th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $657.76.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $479.76 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $380.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $154.46 and a twelve month high of $739.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $556.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $455.61.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.28%.

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure is supporting a new growth cycle. Chipmakers are increasing spending on advanced DRAM, high-bandwidth memory, leading-edge logic and advanced packaging—all areas that benefit Applied Materials’ semiconductor equipment business. The company’s latest quarter showed revenue growth of 24.8% year over year, with earnings and revenue exceeding analyst expectations. Applied Materials Enters a New AI-Driven Growth Cycle
• Positive Sentiment: Services and parts demand remain resilient. Applied Materials’ Applied Global Services (AGS) division reportedly reached record revenue and expanded margins, helped by subscription services, parts demand and higher semiconductor-fab utilization. This recurring revenue can provide stability across equipment cycles. AMAT’s AGS Business Gains Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see potential upside after the recent selloff. Consensus price targets imply roughly 35% upside, while another report cited an average target near $641. However, these targets depend on continued earnings-estimate improvements and sustained AI spending. Analyst Upside Potential for AMAT
• Neutral Sentiment: Mizuho remains constructive but lowered its target. The firm reduced its price target from $650 to $590 while maintaining an “outperform” rating, reflecting a more cautious near-term outlook despite expected upside. Mizuho AMAT Price Target Update
• Negative Sentiment: China exposure is the main overhang. Tighter export controls and the emergence of Chinese domestic immersion DUV lithography systems are raising concerns about Applied Materials’ competitiveness and future China sales. Reports caution that not all of the company’s approximately $2.087 billion in quarterly China revenue is immediately threatened, but investors are still pricing in greater regulatory and competitive risk. Applied Materials’ China Problem Is Getting Worse

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.