Carmel Capital Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Carmel Capital Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 25.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,562 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,327 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises 0.8% of Carmel Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Carmel Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1,008.1% in the second quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 36,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,619,000 after acquiring an additional 32,893 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,643 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 113,221 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,924,000 after purchasing an additional 10,468 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 145,277 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,601,000 after buying an additional 35,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in Applied Materials by 13,360.6% during the second quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 694,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $127,129,000 after buying an additional 689,272 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $360.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.89.

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)

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $318.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $333.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $268.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.47.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.20%.

Applied Materials Company 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.