Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock Holdings Trimmed by Diversified Trust Co.

Diversified Trust Co. decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,418 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,335 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 150.0% in the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. DZ Bank raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.3%

AMAT stock opened at $361.79 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $287.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.65. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $395.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $341.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.38.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

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.