Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock Position Lessened by EdgePoint Investment Group Inc.

EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,817,887 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 173,580 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises about 7.4% of EdgePoint Investment Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. owned 0.60% of Applied Materials worth $986,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board-approved 15% increase to the quarterly cash dividend (from $0.46 to $0.53), marking nine consecutive years of raises — signals strong free-cash-flow generation and makes the stock more attractive to income and dividend-growth investors. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Planned addition to the S&P 100 (effective March 23) — likely to create incremental buying from index-tracking funds ahead of the effective date. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: New/strengthened customer R&D partnerships focused on AI memory (long-term R&D tie-up with SK hynix and collaboration with Micron on memory) — supports durable equipment demand for next‑gen DRAM/HBM and AI accelerators. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Broader market positioning toward semiconductors/AI: hedge funds and money managers are overweighting semiconductor-capital-equipment names (including AMAT) as AI capex remains a dominant 2026 trade theme. That institutional buying is supporting AMAT multiple and flows. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst attention and elevated price targets (median ~$415; multiple firms on “Buy/Overweight”) — helps underpin sentiment and provides buying interest on pullbacks. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Elevated retail and search interest reported by Zacks — signals attention but not directionally predictive by itself. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Takeover/industry M&A chatter (e.g., interest around BE Semiconductor Industries involving Lam and Applied) can boost sentiment but is speculative. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Macro risk: recent oil/ geopolitical-driven moves hit some chip names (Nvidia, Broadcom, Micron) — a spike in risk or higher energy prices can pressure tech cyclicals, including AMAT. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Notable insider sell activity and some institutional reallocations reported (large holders trimming in recent quarters) — could weigh on sentiment if selling persists. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. The trade was a 12.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Erste Group Bank began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.46.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $341.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $395.95. The stock has a market cap of $271.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $334.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $262.48.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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