Wellington Management Group LLP Purchases 704,629 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 197.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,061,899 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 704,629 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.13% of Applied Materials worth $767,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Harborfront Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $510.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $683.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Applied Materials from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $657.76.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Semiconductor and AI demand remains strong: Recent coverage highlights Applied Materials’ $9.12 billion third-quarter revenue, up 25% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $3.50, up 41%. Management cited record demand visibility from AI infrastructure, more than 10 new fab projects during the quarter and fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $10.25 billion. The company is also continuing share repurchases and investing $5 billion in its EPIC Center to accelerate semiconductor innovation. The AI Buildout Is Turning Applied Materials Into A Profit Machine
• Positive Sentiment: New board member adds semiconductor expertise: AMAT appointed Akash Palkhiwala, Qualcomm’s CFO and COO, to its board and Audit Committee. His finance, operations and industry experience could strengthen oversight as Applied Materials pursues growth tied to advanced logic, memory and AI chip production. Applied Materials Appoints Akash Palkhiwala to Board of Directors
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market signals elevated uncertainty: A new analysis says options pricing for roughly one year ahead implies a particularly wide potential trading range, extending materially below and above the current level. That suggests investors should expect significant volatility rather than providing a clear directional signal. How Far Applied Materials Stock Can Move In A Year
• Negative Sentiment: CFO share sale may weigh modestly on sentiment: CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 AMAT shares for approximately $3.6 million, reducing his direct holdings by 5.51%. The sale does not alter the company’s operating outlook, but insider selling can create a limited short-term sentiment overhang. SEC Insider Transaction Filing

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total value of $14,704,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,599,843 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,236,570.46. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at $61,637,780.25. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 284,192 shares of company stock valued at $172,625,209 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $461.67 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $550.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $456.77. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $739.67. The stock has a market cap of $366.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

Applied Materials Profile

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.