Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,145,081 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 263,983 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.14% of Applied Materials worth $234,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,604,002,000. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,409,320,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Applied Materials by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,483,183,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700,349 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1,704.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,439,598 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $499,483,000 after acquiring an additional 2,304,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 417.3% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,732,015 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $317,053,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397,217 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its price target sharply to $400 (from $250) and reiterated a Buy ahead of earnings, signaling increased analyst confidence and likely supporting buying interest. Citi Jumps Applied Materials (AMAT) Target Ahead of Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Pre-earnings research (Zacks) expects AMAT to beat estimates, highlighting the company’s revenue/earnings mix as favorable — a potential short-term catalyst that can lift the stock on an upside surprise. Applied Materials (AMAT) Expected to Beat Earnings Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks also flags AMAT as a strong momentum stock, which can attract momentum-driven flows into the shares ahead of a likely volatility event (earnings). Here’s Why Applied Materials (AMAT) is a Strong Momentum Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: An earnings release and investor event are scheduled for Feb. 12; this is the immediate catalyst and will drive intraday moves depending on results and guidance. Applied Materials (AMAT) to Release Earnings on Thursday
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest figures appear to be a data glitch (showing 0 shares and NaN changes), so there’s no clear short-covering signal from that dataset at present.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage flagged a sharp pullback tied to export-control uncertainty despite robust AI-driven equipment demand — a reminder that geopolitical/export risks can quickly reverse sentiment if guidance or commentary raises red flags. Applied Materials (AMAT) Is Down 11.6% After AI-Driven Equipment Demand Meets Export-Control Uncertainty

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $275.00 to $390.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $360.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $315.15.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $322.51 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $288.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.16, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $344.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Company 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.