BDF Gestion Has $6.99 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

BDF Gestion cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,187 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,812 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 0.9% of BDF Gestion’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 26.7% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 3,469 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,430 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $811,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company presentation and AI strategy — Applied reiterated a strategic push into AI-related equipment demand at the Cantor Fitzgerald conference, reinforcing expectations that AI server and chip buildouts will support equipment orders and long-term growth for AMAT. What’s Behind Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT)’s AI Push
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile industry visibility — Applied executives are speaking at CERAWeek alongside major cloud and chip industry leaders, which boosts investor access, narrative control, and potential customer/partner signaling. This kind of exposure can support multiple catalysts (orders, partnerships, sentiment). Leaders and Experts … Headline Technology and Innovation Programming at CERAWeek
• Positive Sentiment: Fund flows and ETF positioning — Active ETFs and dividend-focused funds have been attracting inflows; AMAT appears in some actively managed dividend/value ETF baskets, which can create steady buying pressure from portfolio managers rebalancing into favored names. Active ETFs Surge Past Passive, and These Are in the Lead
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend-boosters roundup — A consumer-facing article highlights large dividend increases across several sectors (semiconductors among them). It does not confirm an AMAT dividend hike, so impact on AMAT is unclear. Income Boosters: 3 Stocks Raising Their Dividends by 15% to 33%
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest report anomaly — A March short-interest entry shows zero shares reported (likely a data anomaly or reporting lag), so there’s no clear short-squeeze or bearish short-pressure signal from this report today.
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical risk — Rising oil prices and equity futures weakness after geopolitical rhetoric (U.S.–Iran tensions) create a risk-off impulse that can weigh on cyclicals and tech/industrial capex sentiment in the near term, potentially offsetting some positive company news. Dow Jones Futures Fall, Oil Prices Rise After Trump Threats To ‘Obliterate’ Iran’s Power Plants

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $361.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $341.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.38. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $395.95. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $287.12 billion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. The firm 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 business’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total value of $1,496,392.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.