Avanza Fonder AB Sells 4,411 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Avanza Fonder AB cut its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,646 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,411 shares during the quarter. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $18,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 11.3% in the second quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,430 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $811,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More 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 Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho raised their price target on Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a research report 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $361.79 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $395.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $341.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.38. The stock has a market capitalization 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.