The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 11,933 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 910,031 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 11,933 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $657,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harborfront Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 34.8% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 93 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure is supporting a new growth cycle. Chipmakers are increasing spending on advanced DRAM, high-bandwidth memory, leading-edge logic and advanced packaging—all areas that benefit Applied Materials’ semiconductor equipment business. The company’s latest quarter showed revenue growth of 24.8% year over year, with earnings and revenue exceeding analyst expectations. Applied Materials Enters a New AI-Driven Growth Cycle
• Positive Sentiment: Services and parts demand remain resilient. Applied Materials’ Applied Global Services (AGS) division reportedly reached record revenue and expanded margins, helped by subscription services, parts demand and higher semiconductor-fab utilization. This recurring revenue can provide stability across equipment cycles. AMAT’s AGS Business Gains Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see potential upside after the recent selloff. Consensus price targets imply roughly 35% upside, while another report cited an average target near $641. However, these targets depend on continued earnings-estimate improvements and sustained AI spending. Analyst Upside Potential for AMAT
• Neutral Sentiment: Mizuho remains constructive but lowered its target. The firm reduced its price target from $650 to $590 while maintaining an “outperform” rating, reflecting a more cautious near-term outlook despite expected upside. Mizuho AMAT Price Target Update
• Negative Sentiment: China exposure is the main overhang. Tighter export controls and the emergence of Chinese domestic immersion DUV lithography systems are raising concerns about Applied Materials’ competitiveness and future China sales. Reports caution that not all of the company’s approximately $2.087 billion in quarterly China revenue is immediately threatened, but investors are still pricing in greater regulatory and competitive risk. Applied Materials’ China Problem Is Getting Worse

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total value of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at $79,534,609.56. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.75, for a total transaction of $42,587,906.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,695,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,503,625. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 276,692 shares of company stock valued at $169,030,834. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Argus set a $600.00 price target on Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright set a $850.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $657.76.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $479.76 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $556.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $455.61. The stock has a market cap of $380.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.36, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $154.46 and a 52 week high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

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.