Stiles Financial Services Inc Sells 1,123 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Posted by Brian Himes on Jul 10th, 2026

Stiles Financial Services Inc cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Free Report) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,291 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,123 shares during the quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 218.8% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 102 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $38,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $578.84.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Applied Materials

Applied Materials News Summary

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

Positive Sentiment: CEO Gary Dickerson said Applied Materials has “tremendous visibility” into demand, suggesting chipmakers are planning further ahead than usual and that AI-related capital spending could stay strong for years. Applied Materials CEO Sees ‘Tremendous Visibility’ Into Demand
Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta Platforms plans to begin making its own AI chip lifted the broader semiconductor group, helping Applied Materials as investors bet on more wafer-fabrication equipment demand. Applied Materials stock jumps as Meta AI chip plan lifts semiconductor names
Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary highlighted a rebound in AMAT as AI spending expectations improved and semiconductor equipment names drew renewed investor interest. Applied Materials (AMAT) Rebounds On AI Demand Outlook As Fair Value Debate Returns
Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials also benefits from growing demand in advanced packaging, with management targeting more than 50% packaging revenue growth in 2026 as AI drives HBM and chiplet-stacking adoption. Can AMAT’s Advanced Packaging Drive Its Next Growth Phase?
Neutral Sentiment: Some recent commentary argues AMAT may be late to the AI trade and that valuation has already run up, which could limit further upside if expectations cool. Applied Materials: You’re Late To The AI Party
Neutral Sentiment: Susquehanna raised its price target on Applied Materials, reinforcing a constructive but still analyst-dependent outlook. Susquehanna Raises Price Target on Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT)

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $588.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $739.67. The firm has a market cap of $467.37 billion, a PE ratio of 55.27, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $513.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $400.88.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 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 analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.75, for a total value of $42,587,906.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,695,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,503,625. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total value of $25,264,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at $180,204,069.76. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Materials

(Free Report)

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.