Transce3nd LLC Lowers Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Transce3nd LLC lessened its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 94.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 218 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,086 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $45,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.9% in the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $55,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,397 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its position 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 worth $2,315,000 after buying an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion grew its position 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 worth $18,924,000 after buying an additional 10,468 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 13,360.6% during the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 694,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $127,129,000 after acquiring an additional 689,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,512,000 after acquiring an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,612 shares of company stock worth $4,639,807. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Summit Insights raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade pushed the stock higher intraday — a broker upgrade cited improved fundamentals/visibility and sent shares up before broader market weakness set in. Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading 4.5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated a bullish view with forecasts for strong price appreciation, reinforcing investor confidence that equipment makers like AMAT will benefit from sustained AI and memory capex. Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Industry research highlights that AI spending is shifting value to semiconductor equipment suppliers — a structural tailwind for AMAT as fabs invest in logic, DRAM, HBM and advanced packaging. The AI spending boom is creating winners beyond the ‘Mag 7.’ Why one sector could see big gains.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary (Zacks) notes AMAT is scaling up exposure to logic, DRAM and advanced packaging (GAA, hybrid bonding, HBM), which supports multi‑year revenue growth assumptions. AMAT Scales Up Logic, DRAM & Advanced Packaging: What’s Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor Q: “Is it too late?” coverage and articles looking at valuation after a big one‑year run can increase profit‑taking; these pieces examine multiples and momentum without new company fundamentals. Is It Too Late To Consider Applied Materials (AMAT) After A 130% One Year Surge?
• Neutral Sentiment: Questions about outperforming benchmarks—coverage comparing AMAT to the S&P 500—are framing some investors’ benchmark/rebalancing decisions rather than signaling near‑term fundamental change. Is Applied Materials Stock Outperforming the S&P 500?
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest entries for late Feb look erroneous/incomplete (zeros/NaN); investors should treat those figures cautiously and watch for corrected filings. (Data reported 2/25–2/26)
• Negative Sentiment: Sector sell‑off after Nvidia’s earnings created downward pressure—concerns about the sustainability of AI capex flow prompted a pullback in AMAT despite recent strength. A Look At Applied Materials (AMAT) Valuation After Sector Sell Off On AI Spending Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: News items grouping AMAT with other semiconductor names that are falling amplify momentum selling and may trigger short‑term downside as traders reduce exposure. Applied Materials, Broadcom, Lam Research, Western Digital, and Allegro MicroSystems shares are falling, what you need to know

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $372.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $317.30 and a 200 day moving average of $249.95. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $395.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The company’s quarterly 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 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. 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 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

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.