Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Posted by Geri Gentry on Aug 29th, 2026

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,396 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,179,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Harborfront Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $510.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five 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 a consensus price target of $657.76.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on AMAT

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $461.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $366.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $154.46 and a twelve month high of $739.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $550.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $456.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.28%.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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 Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total transaction of $5,547,872.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 40,559 shares in the company, valued at $24,326,071.43. The trade was a 18.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total transaction of $3,594,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,637,780.25. This represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 284,192 shares of company stock valued at $172,625,209. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.