Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,695,146 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 52,703 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.21% of Applied Materials worth $347,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFG Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1,008.1% in the second quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 36,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,619,000 after purchasing an additional 32,893 shares in the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,180,000 after buying an additional 17,397 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its holdings in 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 period. Sienna Gestion grew its stake in Applied Materials by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 113,221 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,924,000 after buying an additional 10,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in 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 valued at $127,129,000 after acquiring an additional 689,272 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly beat, stronger outlook and product roadmap — AMAT reported Q1 results above expectations, issued solid Q2 guidance and flagged new transistor/materials engineering systems aimed at 2nm-and-beyond chips; management also announced a ~$252.5M export deal that supports near-term revenue visibility. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher targets — Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $432 with an “overweight” rating (higher upside vs. the current level), adding to a wave of bullish target increases from other brokers that lift sentiment. Article
• Positive Sentiment: AI/HBM-driven demand and positioning — Coverage highlights AMAT’s central role in tools for deposition/film and advanced packaging as AI and HBM demand sustain bookings and backlog visibility, underpinning margins and long-term growth expectations. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational/PR wins — Applied recognized supplier partners with Supplier Excellence Awards (positive for supply chain resilience but unlikely to move near-term revenue materially). Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Market risk-on environment — Semicon-equipment names got a lift from a broader risk-on session (S&P/Nasdaq strength) that amplified AMAT’s earnings-driven rally. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest note is ambiguous — A recent short-interest entry shows zero/NaN values and no meaningful short-days cover signal; it isn’t providing a clear opposite pressure to the rally. (Data entry appears unreliable.)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — Recent Form 4 filings show CAO Adam Sanders and Director Judy Bruner sold shares (reducing holdings ~10–12%), which can weigh on near‑term sentiment even if the sales may be routine diversification. CAO Adam Sanders Form 4 Director Judy Bruner Form 4

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $395.04 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $395.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. The company has a market capitalization of $313.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $312.54 and a 200-day moving average of $247.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 10,112 shares of company stock worth $3,660,532 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Mizuho upped their price target on Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Craig Hallum restated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.46.

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.