Insider Selling: Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Director Sells 2,500 Shares of Stock

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Judy Bruner also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, February 23rd, Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of Applied Materials stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $3.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $372.30. The company had a trading volume of 9,035,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,319,385. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $395.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $314.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $248.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $295.46 billion, a PE ratio of 38.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.70.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, KGI Securities raised shares of Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.46.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,731,523,000 after purchasing an additional 330,197 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,920,984 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,125,265,000 after buying an additional 391,540 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,405,458,000 after acquiring an additional 17,829,377 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,836,807,000 after acquiring an additional 407,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 72.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700,349 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More 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 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.