BNP Paribas Cuts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

BNP Paribas decreased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 197,228 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 18,138 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for about 1.2% of BNP Paribas’ portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $40,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 150.0% in the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $341.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $271.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $395.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $334.48 and a 200-day moving average of $262.48. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $400.00 in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.46.

Key Headlines Impacting 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

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.