Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 239,069 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $61,438,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 147.2% during the fourth quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials’ new collaboration with Broadcom boosts its AI packaging story and highlights its importance in next-generation semiconductor manufacturing. Why Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock Is Up Today
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment remains constructive, with traders noting strong semiconductor sector momentum, improving technicals, and continued AI infrastructure demand supporting AMAT. Applied Materials Stock (AMAT) Opinions on Semiconductor Gains
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street still appears bullish on AMAT, with multiple recent buy/overweight ratings and price targets clustered well above current levels, reinforcing the stock’s longer-term upside case.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader coverage continues to frame Applied Materials as a key beneficiary of AI and advanced packaging trends, but some of the related articles are commentary rather than new company-specific developments. Applied Materials (AMAT): “The Arms Dealer of the Semiconductor Revolution”
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles also highlighted the stock’s strong multi-year performance and its role among semiconductor equipment peers, which may support investor attention but do not add a major new catalyst. Here’s How Much You’d Have If You Invested $1000 in Applied Materials a Decade Ago
• Negative Sentiment: One potential overhang is continued insider selling over the past six months, which can sometimes weigh on sentiment even when fundamentals remain strong.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $432.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $387.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $326.06. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.47 and a 52 week high of $448.45. The stock has a market cap of $342.97 billion, a PE ratio of 40.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.66.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $465.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen upped 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. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Summit Insights raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, May 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $465.14.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,003 shares of company stock worth $2,678,139. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials 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.