Insider Selling: Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Director Sells $979,275.00 in Stock

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Judy Bruner also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, February 23rd, Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of Applied Materials stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $372.30 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $395.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $295.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $317.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 in the previous year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. The company’s 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. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Susquehanna raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price target on Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Warther Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,031 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 2,208 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,298 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,227 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

More Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade pushed the stock higher intraday — a broker upgrade cited improved fundamentals/visibility and sent shares up before broader market weakness set in. Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading 4.5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated a bullish view with forecasts for strong price appreciation, reinforcing investor confidence that equipment makers like AMAT will benefit from sustained AI and memory capex. Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Industry research highlights that AI spending is shifting value to semiconductor equipment suppliers — a structural tailwind for AMAT as fabs invest in logic, DRAM, HBM and advanced packaging. The AI spending boom is creating winners beyond the ‘Mag 7.’ Why one sector could see big gains.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary (Zacks) notes AMAT is scaling up exposure to logic, DRAM and advanced packaging (GAA, hybrid bonding, HBM), which supports multi‑year revenue growth assumptions. AMAT Scales Up Logic, DRAM & Advanced Packaging: What’s Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor Q: “Is it too late?” coverage and articles looking at valuation after a big one‑year run can increase profit‑taking; these pieces examine multiples and momentum without new company fundamentals. Is It Too Late To Consider Applied Materials (AMAT) After A 130% One Year Surge?
• Neutral Sentiment: Questions about outperforming benchmarks—coverage comparing AMAT to the S&P 500—are framing some investors’ benchmark/rebalancing decisions rather than signaling near‑term fundamental change. Is Applied Materials Stock Outperforming the S&P 500?
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest entries for late Feb look erroneous/incomplete (zeros/NaN); investors should treat those figures cautiously and watch for corrected filings. (Data reported 2/25–2/26)
• Negative Sentiment: Sector sell‑off after Nvidia’s earnings created downward pressure—concerns about the sustainability of AI capex flow prompted a pullback in AMAT despite recent strength. A Look At Applied Materials (AMAT) Valuation After Sector Sell Off On AI Spending Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: News items grouping AMAT with other semiconductor names that are falling amplify momentum selling and may trigger short‑term downside as traders reduce exposure. Applied Materials, Broadcom, Lam Research, Western Digital, and Allegro MicroSystems shares are falling, what you need to know

About Applied Materials

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.