Alight Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 50,000 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Alight Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 50,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,237,000. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 2.2% of Alight Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 225.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,046,057,000 after purchasing an additional 10,305,182 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,604,002,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 617.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,869,170,000 after buying an additional 7,856,576 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,409,320,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 72.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,483,183,000 after buying an additional 5,700,349 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.3%

AMAT opened at $341.53 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $334.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.48. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $395.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $271.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The company’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

Trending Headlines about 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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 a total of 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.