Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. Purchases New Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 5,787 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,959,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. now owns 2,253 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,089 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 122.8% in the 3rd quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,949,000 after buying an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 195.2% in the 3rd quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 4,656 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,381,000 after buying an additional 3,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Applied Materials by 141.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,283,410 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $656,310,000 after buying an additional 751,400 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price (up from $500.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $515.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $720.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $700.00 target price (down from $790.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $637.14.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,877,960. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of Applied Materials 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,637,780.25. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $430.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $341.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07, a PEG ratio of 1.24 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $483.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $485.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $203.40 and a 52-week high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. The business’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. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Applied Materials Profile

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.