Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $31.83 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 39.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,826 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,952 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $31,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 225.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,046,057,000 after buying an additional 10,305,182 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 617.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,869,170,000 after purchasing an additional 7,856,576 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,751 shares during the last quarter. Coatue Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $685,684,000. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,247,838,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,730 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $465.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $463.89.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials posted record Q2 results, beating EPS and revenue expectations and lifting its outlook, with management citing strong AI infrastructure spending as a key growth driver. Applied Materials Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street turned more bullish after the report, with multiple firms raising price targets, including Bank of America, JPMorgan, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, Needham, and KeyCorp, reinforcing confidence in multi-year earnings growth. Applied Materials Sees Multi-Year AI Boom Driving Record Revenue And Growth Through 2028
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts highlighted a durable AI-driven semiconductor upcycle, suggesting Applied Materials could sustain elevated demand and margins through 2027-2028. Krish Sankar Reaffirms Buy on Applied Materials
• Neutral Sentiment: The broader market backdrop is weaker, with major indexes down as Treasury yields and oil prices rise, which is adding headwinds for high-valuation tech and AI stocks. Stock Market Today: Dow Falls As Oil Prices, Yields Jump; Applied Materials, Nvidia, Cerebras Slide
• Negative Sentiment: Even with the strong earnings report, the stock is slipping as investors rotate out after a sharp year-to-date rally, showing some concern that expectations may already be very high. Applied Materials slips despite record quarter and strong outlook (AMAT)

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $436.62 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.47 and a 52-week high of $448.45. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $379.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $320.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $346.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.28%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.