Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock Holdings Boosted by Clark Capital Management Group Inc.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,166 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,148 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Summit Insights upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.46.

Applied Materials News Summary

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, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 directly owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.3%

AMAT opened at $341.53 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization 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. 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 fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $395.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $334.48 and a 200-day moving average of $263.17.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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

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.