Capstone Wealth Management Group LLC Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Capstone Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,034 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $695,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 4.9% in the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 531 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,082 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Warther Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,031 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $87,184,361.88. This trade represents a 14.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $540.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $569.65.

Applied Materials News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials unveiled SENZ, an AI-powered platform designed to speed development of smart glasses, which supports the company’s positioning in next-generation AI hardware and could expand long-term growth opportunities. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more constructive, with Morgan Stanley raising its price target to $647 and Goldman Sachs also boosting its target, reinforcing optimism around AMAT’s earnings momentum and AI-driven demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted AMAT as a Strong Buy momentum stock, noting its strong rebound from the 52-week low and continued support from broad AI-related equipment demand. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage noted that AMAT had been one of the strongest stocks in the semiconductor group before today’s pullback, suggesting the move may reflect a short-term cooldown rather than a change in the longer-term trend. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are falling alongside the broader chip sector, with investors rotating out of semiconductor names amid an industry-wide tech selloff and caution tied to memory-chip sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Another market recap said AMAT declined more than the broader market, adding to near-term downside pressure even though the company’s fundamentals remain strong. Article Title

Applied Materials Trading Down 6.5%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $554.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $506.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $396.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $154.46 and a 12-month high of $739.67. The company has a market capitalization of $440.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

About Applied Materials

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.