Ibex Wealth Advisors Purchases New Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Ibex Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,871 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $981,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,731,523,000 after purchasing an additional 330,197 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 119.8% in 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. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,751 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,947,891,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $2,858,543,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: CEO Gary Dickerson said Applied Materials has “tremendous visibility” into demand, suggesting chipmakers are planning further ahead than usual and that AI-related capital spending could stay strong for years. Applied Materials CEO Sees ‘Tremendous Visibility’ Into Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta Platforms plans to begin making its own AI chip lifted the broader semiconductor group, helping Applied Materials as investors bet on more wafer-fabrication equipment demand. Applied Materials stock jumps as Meta AI chip plan lifts semiconductor names
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary highlighted a rebound in AMAT as AI spending expectations improved and semiconductor equipment names drew renewed investor interest. Applied Materials (AMAT) Rebounds On AI Demand Outlook As Fair Value Debate Returns
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials also benefits from growing demand in advanced packaging, with management targeting more than 50% packaging revenue growth in 2026 as AI drives HBM and chiplet-stacking adoption. Can AMAT’s Advanced Packaging Drive Its Next Growth Phase?
• Neutral Sentiment: Some recent commentary argues AMAT may be late to the AI trade and that valuation has already run up, which could limit further upside if expectations cool. Applied Materials: You’re Late To The AI Party
• Neutral Sentiment: Susquehanna raised its price target on Applied Materials, reinforcing a constructive but still analyst-dependent outlook. Susquehanna Raises Price Target on Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Applied Materials from $440.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $517.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $578.84.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $588.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $467.37 billion, a PE ratio of 55.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $513.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $400.88. 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 12-month low of $154.46 and a 12-month high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.11 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total transaction of $6,335,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,608,106.26. This represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805 in the last ninety days. 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.