Heartland Advisors Inc. Purchases 1,673 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,919 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,673 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Craig Hallum reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.04.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 / fiscal Q1 results beat expectations and management gave aggressive forward guidance (CEO projected ~20% calendar‑year revenue growth and raised Q2 outlook), which sparked the rally. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several firms bumped up price targets and ratings after the results — notable raises reported (Needham and others), backing upside to current consensus and supporting further upside momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are increasingly framing AMAT as a primary beneficiary of the AI-driven “Giga‑cycle”; TD Cowen and other shops have raised targets (e.g., Cowen to ~$450), reinforcing buy‑side conviction. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader industry coverage highlights AMAT’s leadership among equipment suppliers in the current multi‑year chip investment wave — a positive thematic tailwind but already largely priced into many forecasts. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management scheduled investor conference appearances/fireside chats — useful for additional color on demand and margin trajectory but not an immediate catalyst on its own. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Published short‑interest reports show anomalous “0 shares / NaN” figures for mid‑February — appears to be a data error and does not indicate a meaningful short squeeze. Investors should rely on standard data sources for positioning metrics. (data entries)

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $359.13 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $285.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.76, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $298.78 and a 200 day moving average of $239.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $376.32.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.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. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

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.