Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock: ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Stake

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,023,240 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,448 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises 0.8% of ProShare Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $523,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $31,618,000. Investment Partners LTD. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 1,074 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Intrua Financial LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 13.3% in the third quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 974 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 997.1% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 4,509 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,306,000 after buying an additional 4,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invera Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.0% during the third quarter. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $575.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Argus set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $605.00 price objective (down from $680.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Evercore set a $590.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $632.70.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $61,637,780.25. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total value of $394,806.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,732,245.36. The trade was a 18.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 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.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials’ planned move to raise its Besi stake to 20% is strengthening its exposure to hybrid bonding, a packaging technology that could benefit from rising AI-chip complexity. TIKR describes a bullish long-term scenario, with a potential price target of approximately $806 versus a roughly $628 Wall Street target. Applied Materials hybrid bonding analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights a quarter with 51% growth and argues that AMAT trades at about 23 times forward earnings, a valuation that may look reasonable if AI-related semiconductor-equipment demand remains strong. The company also recently exceeded earnings and revenue estimates and issued fourth-quarter EPS guidance of $3.82–$4.22. Applied Materials growth and valuation analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: AMAT is attracting unusually high investor attention, but the Zacks reports primarily review the company’s prospects rather than identify a new fundamental catalyst. Zacks Applied Materials investor attention report
• Negative Sentiment: Compared with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Applied Materials has shown a flatter revenue trajectory and less consistent quarter-over-quarter growth. That comparison may reinforce concerns that AMAT’s elevated valuation already discounts substantial AI-driven demand. Applied Materials versus Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Applied Materials Trading Down 7.5%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $390.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $457.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $443.63. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $203.40 and a 52-week high of $739.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a technology company that supplies equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its products help customers fabricate the integrated circuits and other components used in computers, mobile devices, data centers, automobiles and a range of connected technologies.

The company’s offerings include systems for materials engineering, wafer fabrication, inspection and process control, along with equipment and services designed to improve manufacturing productivity and yield.