Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock: Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Holdings

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 84,485 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 24,668 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up approximately 2.5% of Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $43,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $57,993,650,000 after buying an additional 1,237,685 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 85.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $50,267,184,000 after acquiring an additional 32,018,892 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,645,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,876 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,713,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,576,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,252,863,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total transaction of $394,806.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,732,245.36. This trade represents a 18.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total value of $3,594,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at $61,637,780.25. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials unveiled its approximately $5 billion EPIC Center in Sunnyvale, California, described as the world’s largest semiconductor equipment and process-technology research facility. The center, supported by companies including Intel, Micron, SK hynix, and Samsung, is intended to accelerate chip development and strengthen AMAT’s long-term position in advanced manufacturing. Applied Materials opens $5B semiconductor innovation center
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an Outperform rating and set a $600 price target. Other coverage highlights AMAT’s fifth consecutive earnings beat, improving earnings estimates, and what analysts view as attractive upside after the stock’s recent decline. Applied Materials could nearly double within 12 months
• Positive Sentiment: AMAT is being cited as a growth-at-a-reasonable-price semiconductor stock, supported by its broad wafer-fabrication equipment portfolio and expected benefits from expanding chip and AI infrastructure capacity. ASML vs. Applied Materials
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed: some firms remain bullish, while others are conflicted on the technology sector and AMAT specifically. A report also noted that 31 ETFs added AMAT shares, indicating continued institutional interest but not necessarily a near-term catalyst. Analysts conflicted on technology names
• Negative Sentiment: AMAT’s decline followed a six-session losing streak and weakness across chip stocks. Investor Day disclosures, including the company’s optical-inspection expansion and long-term targets, have not yet overcome investor concerns about near-term execution, elevated valuation, and semiconductor-sector volatility. Applied Materials drops during Investor Day

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.7%

AMAT stock opened at $430.01 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $483.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $485.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $203.40 and a 12 month high of $739.67. The company has a market cap of $341.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

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 net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 26th. Craig Hallum upped their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $510.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $683.00 to $641.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $637.14.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a global supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat-panel displays and other advanced electronic products. Its technologies help customers build and enhance materials at the nanoscale, supporting processes such as deposition, etching, inspection, metrology and packaging.

The company’s offerings include semiconductor manufacturing systems, process-control and inspection equipment, and services designed to improve the performance, productivity and longevity of production equipment.