First Dallas Securities Inc. Buys New Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

First Dallas Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 4,175 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,427,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in 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 buying an additional 330,197 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position 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 worth $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 3,583,751 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 373,012 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,858,543,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $603.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $478.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.57. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $499.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $390.89. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $154.46 and a one year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly bullish on Applied Materials, with Zacks upgrading the stock to strong-buy and other recent research highlighting AMAT as a key beneficiary of the AI semiconductor equipment cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says Applied Materials is benefiting from accelerating growth in AI-related chip demand, with record earnings momentum and a new Street-high target reinforcing the bull case. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials also discussed DRAM and advanced packaging innovations tied to AI-driven semiconductor growth, which supports the view that its product mix remains well positioned for the current cycle. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Some articles question whether AMAT is becoming too expensive after its rally, suggesting valuation concerns could limit upside if growth expectations cool. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Michael Burry reportedly added to short bets against Applied Materials and other chip names, adding a bearish sentiment overlay on the semiconductor sector. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson disclosed two recent stock sales totaling more than 78,000 shares, which can weigh on investor sentiment even though he still owns a large position. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Semiconductor stocks, including AMAT, also came under pressure in broader sector selloffs as investors worried that AI-driven chip demand may be cooling and took profits after a strong rally. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total transaction of $6,335,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares in the company, valued at $219,608,106.26. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Seaport Research Partners began coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Monday, May 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $540.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.56.

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.