Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,917,422 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 194,816 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up approximately 0.7% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.24% of Applied Materials worth $492,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $3,046,057,000 after acquiring an additional 10,305,182 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $1,604,002,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 617.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 7,856,576 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Applied Materials by 72.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,700,349 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 40.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,751 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company presentation and AI strategy — Applied reiterated a strategic push into AI-related equipment demand at the Cantor Fitzgerald conference, reinforcing expectations that AI server and chip buildouts will support equipment orders and long-term growth for AMAT. What’s Behind Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT)’s AI Push
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile industry visibility — Applied executives are speaking at CERAWeek alongside major cloud and chip industry leaders, which boosts investor access, narrative control, and potential customer/partner signaling. This kind of exposure can support multiple catalysts (orders, partnerships, sentiment). Leaders and Experts … Headline Technology and Innovation Programming at CERAWeek
• Positive Sentiment: Fund flows and ETF positioning — Active ETFs and dividend-focused funds have been attracting inflows; AMAT appears in some actively managed dividend/value ETF baskets, which can create steady buying pressure from portfolio managers rebalancing into favored names. Active ETFs Surge Past Passive, and These Are in the Lead
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend-boosters roundup — A consumer-facing article highlights large dividend increases across several sectors (semiconductors among them). It does not confirm an AMAT dividend hike, so impact on AMAT is unclear. Income Boosters: 3 Stocks Raising Their Dividends by 15% to 33%
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest report anomaly — A March short-interest entry shows zero shares reported (likely a data anomaly or reporting lag), so there’s no clear short-squeeze or bearish short-pressure signal from this report today.
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical risk — Rising oil prices and equity futures weakness after geopolitical rhetoric (U.S.–Iran tensions) create a risk-off impulse that can weigh on cyclicals and tech/industrial capex sentiment in the near term, potentially offsetting some positive company news. Dow Jones Futures Fall, Oil Prices Rise After Trump Threats To ‘Obliterate’ Iran’s Power Plants

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Susquehanna upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $400.00 in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, KGI Securities raised shares of Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $361.79 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $395.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $287.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $341.72 and a 200-day moving average of $271.38.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The business’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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