Cantillon Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Cantillon Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 48.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,521,843 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,451,818 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises about 3.5% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $520,151,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% in the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 531 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. One Day In July LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. One Day In July LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,082 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Warther Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank raised its FY2026 and FY2027 earnings estimates for Applied Materials and reiterated a Buy rating, signaling confidence in the company’s growth outlook and AI-driven demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials CEO comments reinforcing the AI investment thesis may help support longer-term sentiment around the stock. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted that AMAT has been drawing increased attention from investors, but the piece was mainly a stock-screening update rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary suggested Applied Materials may be trading above fair value after a strong multi-year run, which could limit upside even if earnings remain solid. Article link
• Negative Sentiment: A broad semiconductor selloff is pressuring AMAT along with peers like AMD and Intel, as the market rotates out of chip stocks and into other areas. Article link

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $517.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $570.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $502.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $593.84.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $529.66 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $420.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.73, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $154.46 and a 52-week high of $739.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $533.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $414.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.91%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total transaction of $6,335,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 346,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,608,106.26. This represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total value of $14,704,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,599,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,236,570.46. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Applied Materials

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.