Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 92,500 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 92,500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,616,000. Applied Materials makes up 0.6% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 3,469 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 59.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $77,383,000 after acquiring an additional 157,426 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,184,361.88. This represents a 14.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total value of $5,092,941.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. The trade was a 6.02% 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 199,767 shares of company stock valued at $114,104,709 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 13.4%

AMAT opened at $668.00 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $669.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $468.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $375.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market cap of $530.37 billion, a PE ratio of 62.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (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 company 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 firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials’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. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, March 27th. Barclays raised their price target on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. B. Riley Financial raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.65.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials unveiled new systems for DRAM and advanced packaging, including tools for higher-yield chip stacking and wafer metrology, strengthening its position in AI chip manufacturing. Applied Materials Introduces New Systems to Accelerate DRAM and Advanced Packaging for AI Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary has turned more upbeat, with Wells Fargo raising its price target sharply and other coverage pointing to continued strength in semiconductor equipment demand and AI infrastructure spending. Is Applied Materials (AMAT) the Best All-Time High Stock with Legs to Rally Further?
• Positive Sentiment: Broader AI-chip optimism also helped sentiment across the sector, with Micron-led strength reinforcing the idea that memory and chip-equipment names could benefit from the next leg of AI spending. Micron Sparks Fresh AI Stock Rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest data showed no meaningful bearish positioning change, so this does not appear to be a driver of the stock move. Applied Materials stock information

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.