Cantillon Capital Management LLC Sells 32,480 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Cantillon Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,951,260 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 32,480 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up approximately 3.3% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned about 0.37% of Applied Materials worth $604,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 150.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Maseco LLP bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bullish analyst target increases from major firms signal upside expectations — Needham raised its target to $390 and KeyBanc raised its target to $380, citing AMAT’s positioning for memory/AI-related capacity growth and vertical scaling potential. Needham Increases AMAT Target to $390 KeyBanc Raises AMAT Target to $380
• Positive Sentiment: Display business rebound: Q4 display revenues rose ~68% driven by advanced systems, improved pricing and stronger OLED demand — a sign AMAT’s display segment may reaccelerate revenue and margins if demand for OLED and AR/VR tooling continues. Can AMAT Lead the Display Market With Advanced OLED and AR/VR Push?
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings date set — AMAT will report fiscal Q1 2026 results and host its earnings call on Feb. 12, 2026; that event is a near-term catalyst where management guidance and commentary on China exposure, memory demand and pricing will matter most. Applied Materials to Report Fiscal First Quarter 2026 Results on Feb. 12, 2026 Q1 2026 Earnings Call Details
• Neutral Sentiment: Relative sector performance pieces highlight AMAT vs. peers (ASML, Lam) and frame expectations — useful context for investors assessing valuation and relative upside but not an immediate driver. Are Computer and Technology Stocks Lagging Applied Materials (AMAT) This Year?
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue and China-market headwinds remain a drag — AMAT reported a ~3.5% revenue decline YoY in the last quarter and analysts point to China restrictions as a continuing risk to near-term top-line growth. That dynamic helps explain why some analysts still caution on downside despite upgrades. Which Semiconductor Equipment Stock Has More Upside in 2026?
• Negative Sentiment: Negative/sell viewpoints and insider selling are being highlighted by some outlets — a Yahoo piece recommends selling AMAT in favor of alternatives, and recent insider sales are noted in market summaries, both of which can add near-term selling pressure. 1 Reason to Sell AMAT and 1 Stock to Buy Instead Quiver Quant: Insider Activity & Institutional Moves (AMAT)

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $250.00 to $285.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. DZ Bank upgraded Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.89.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $318.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $268.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.47. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $333.03. The firm has a market cap of $252.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.