Earnest Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Earnest Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 300,755 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 8,216 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $61,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 17,397 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $635,057,000 after acquiring an additional 145,050 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 13,360.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 689,272 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 82.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction 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 represents a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. 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. 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, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $341.53 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $334.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.17. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $395.95. The firm has a market capitalization 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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

Applied Materials 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.