Heartland Advisors Inc. Buys 1,673 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Heartland Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,919 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,673 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 150.0% in the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $359.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $285.05 billion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $376.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $298.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.54.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. DZ Bank upgraded Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.04.

Key Applied Materials News

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 related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.