Camarda Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Camarda Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,494 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,695,000. Applied Materials comprises approximately 1.4% of Camarda Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harborfront Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 34.8% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 93 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $700.00 target price (down from $790.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $510.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $740.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright set a $850.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $657.76.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Semiconductor and AI demand remains strong: Recent coverage highlights Applied Materials’ $9.12 billion third-quarter revenue, up 25% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $3.50, up 41%. Management cited record demand visibility from AI infrastructure, more than 10 new fab projects during the quarter and fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $10.25 billion. The company is also continuing share repurchases and investing $5 billion in its EPIC Center to accelerate semiconductor innovation. The AI Buildout Is Turning Applied Materials Into A Profit Machine
• Positive Sentiment: New board member adds semiconductor expertise: AMAT appointed Akash Palkhiwala, Qualcomm’s CFO and COO, to its board and Audit Committee. His finance, operations and industry experience could strengthen oversight as Applied Materials pursues growth tied to advanced logic, memory and AI chip production. Applied Materials Appoints Akash Palkhiwala to Board of Directors
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market signals elevated uncertainty: A new analysis says options pricing for roughly one year ahead implies a particularly wide potential trading range, extending materially below and above the current level. That suggests investors should expect significant volatility rather than providing a clear directional signal. How Far Applied Materials Stock Can Move In A Year
• Negative Sentiment: CFO share sale may weigh modestly on sentiment: CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 AMAT shares for approximately $3.6 million, reducing his direct holdings by 5.51%. The sale does not alter the company’s operating outlook, but insider selling can create a limited short-term sentiment overhang. SEC Insider Transaction Filing

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,236,570.46. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total transaction of $14,398,392.09. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,184,361.88. The trade was a 14.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 284,192 shares of company stock worth $172,625,209 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 4.3%

Shares of AMAT opened at $461.67 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $550.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $456.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. The company has a market capitalization of $366.38 billion, a PE ratio of 39.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The company 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 company posted $2.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.28%.

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.