Clear Creek Financial Management LLC Sells 2,187 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Clear Creek Financial Management LLC reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 35.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,187 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 150.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 9,609 shares of company stock worth $2,914,628 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

More Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Earnings beat + aggressive guidance: AMAT’s Feb. quarter topped estimates and management issued strong growth commentary (management projected robust 2026 sales and raised near‑term outlook), which is the fundamental catalyst behind renewed analyst optimism and higher targets. Zacks Analyst Blog
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and target increases: Zacks moved AMAT to Strong Buy and major brokers (Goldman, UBS, Barclays, Stifel, Susquehanna) have lifted price targets — these research moves increase buy‑side conviction and can drive follow‑on flows. Applied Materials (AMAT) Is Considered a Good Investment by Brokers
• Positive Sentiment: Heavy bullish options activity: reported large volume of call purchases (well above typical daily levels) implies traders are positioning for more upside or hedging existing longs — such flows can amplify short‑term moves. Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Applied Materials
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor events scheduled: management will appear at upcoming conferences — useful for more detail/Q&A but not an immediate earnings shock. Investor Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reports look unreliable: published data showing zero/NaN short interest and 0.0 days‑to‑cover are likely reporting errors and should be ignored for positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale — CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares (~$1.8M). Routine liquidity sales are common, but some investors interpret insider selling as a mild cautionary signal. SEC Form 4

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Craig Hallum reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.04.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $375.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $304.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $243.13. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $377.11. 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 capitalization of $297.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. 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.