Elevated Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Elevated Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 24.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,688 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,482 shares during the quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.9% in the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,397 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 21.8% during the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,288 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,512,000 after buying an additional 12,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $1,531,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AMAT. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. KGI Securities raised Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.29.

Applied Materials News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: New tools for next‑gen chips: AMAT unveiled the Precision Selective Nitride PECVD and Trillium ALD systems aimed at 2nm AI and HPC chips — this strengthens its content per chip and positions it to capture AI/HPC node transitions. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Potential large customer for fabs: Bloomberg/press reports say Elon Musk’s Terafab team has contacted AMAT (among others) for equipment quotes — if that project proceeds it could add meaningful new demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness: B. Riley raised its price target on AMAT to $485 (Buy), reflecting a multi‑year AI-related outlook upgrade that supports higher valuations. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive industry signals: peers TSMC and (expected) Lam Research results point to strong AI/HPC and DRAM spending, which is supportive for AMAT as an equipment supplier. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum & coverage: multiple Zacks pieces note heavy investor interest and recent strong short‑term performance (momentum), which can amplify moves but may also lead to volatile reversals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and valuation pressure: relative comparisons (NVDA vs AMAT) and broader peer valuations (ASML/US peers) highlight that investors may prefer higher‑growth alternatives like NVIDIA, which could limit further multiple expansion for AMAT. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term softness in revenue: most recent quarter showed slight year‑over‑year revenue decline (about -2.1%), so while earnings beat and guidance were constructive, demand remains lumpy and could lead to volatility if orders don’t accelerate.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $396.94 on Friday. 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 cap of $315.02 billion, a PE ratio of 40.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.64. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $132.80 and a one year high of $407.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $359.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $295.28.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. The business’s 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. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders 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 is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.