Capital International Investors Sells 3,480 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Capital International Investors reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,733,919 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,480 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned 0.47% of Applied Materials worth $764,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $1,604,002,000. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,409,320,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 72.5% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after buying an additional 5,700,349 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 1,704.0% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,439,598 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $499,483,000 after buying an additional 2,304,369 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 50.8% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,536,507 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $646,915,000 after buying an additional 1,190,864 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.0%

AMAT stock opened at $345.88 on Wednesday. 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 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $395.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $329.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.38. The company has a market capitalization of $274.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Applied Materials News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied announced a long-term R&D partnership with SK hynix to accelerate next‑generation DRAM and high‑bandwidth memory (HBM) development, with engineers working side‑by‑side at Applied’s EPIC Center to push materials, process integration and 3D packaging advances. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Applied and Micron launched a collaboration to develop next‑generation DRAM, HBM and NAND aimed at improving energy efficiency and performance for AI systems, leveraging Applied’s $5B EPIC Center and Micron’s R&D. This strengthens AMAT’s exposure to AI memory demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage reacted positively to the Micron tie‑up (reports point to stock gains on the news), reinforcing investor view that Applied is central to the AI memory supply chain. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group initiated coverage of AMAT with a Hold rating — a neutral signal that may limit upside from some institutional desks. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management presented at the 2026 Cantor conference (transcript available), providing incremental investor detail but no major guidance change. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple analyst writeups and media pieces reiterate long‑term AI tailwinds for AMAT; these help sentiment but don’t materially change fundamentals. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest figures in recent feeds show implausible “0 shares” data and a 0.0 days‑to‑cover ratio — likely a data error and not a real market pressure signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Despite solid Q1 free cash flow (~$1.04B), some coverage notes the stock has pulled back from recent highs — suggesting profit‑taking or positioning risk that could weigh on near‑term performance. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Filings show an elected official disposed of AMAT shares recently, which can create short‑term headlines and caution among some investors. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. KGI Securities upgraded Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.46.

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.