Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock Position Cut by M&G PLC

M&G PLC trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 20.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,356 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,333 shares during the quarter. M&G PLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 84.7% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 6,137 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,256,000 after acquiring an additional 2,815 shares in the last quarter. Tobam lifted its position in Applied Materials by 27.5% in the third quarter. Tobam now owns 687 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $204,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 60.2% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 25,806 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,284,000 after purchasing an additional 9,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,404 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 / fiscal Q1 results beat expectations and management gave aggressive forward guidance (CEO projected ~20% calendar‑year revenue growth and raised Q2 outlook), which sparked the rally. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several firms bumped up price targets and ratings after the results — notable raises reported (Needham and others), backing upside to current consensus and supporting further upside momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are increasingly framing AMAT as a primary beneficiary of the AI-driven “Giga‑cycle”; TD Cowen and other shops have raised targets (e.g., Cowen to ~$450), reinforcing buy‑side conviction. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader industry coverage highlights AMAT’s leadership among equipment suppliers in the current multi‑year chip investment wave — a positive thematic tailwind but already largely priced into many forecasts. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management scheduled investor conference appearances/fireside chats — useful for additional color on demand and margin trajectory but not an immediate catalyst on its own. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Published short‑interest reports show anomalous “0 shares / NaN” figures for mid‑February — appears to be a data error and does not indicate a meaningful short squeeze. Investors should rely on standard data sources for positioning metrics. (data entries)

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Susquehanna raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.04.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $359.13 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $376.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $298.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $285.05 billion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

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.