Hemenway Trust Co LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Hemenway Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 117.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,157 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,078 shares during the quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,707,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 657 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 3,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 4.0% during the third quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 3.0% during the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Earnings and guidance outperformed — AMAT beat Q1 EPS and revenue estimates and management gave strong growth guidance, which has been cited as a primary driver of renewed investor optimism. 3 Under-the-Radar Earnings Surprises Could Signal a New Trend (AMAT)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and target raises — Zacks upgraded AMAT to a “Strong Buy” and several banks (Goldman, UBS, Barclays, Stifel) have lifted price targets and ratings in recent days, supporting upward momentum. Applied Materials (AMAT) Upgraded to Strong Buy: Here’s Why
• Positive Sentiment: Large bullish options flow — unusually heavy call buying (~97,138 calls, ~+231% vs. average) suggests traders are positioning for further upside or hedging long exposure, which can amplify near‑term gains.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst commentary — some outlets highlight differing views across analysts (valuation vs. secular cyclical upside), creating variable near‑term sentiment despite the bullish headlines. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Technology Companies
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reporting anomaly — filings show zero/NaN short interest and a 0.0 days‑to‑cover metric; this is almost certainly a data/reporting error and not meaningful for positioning today.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares (~$1.8M) on Feb 17, trimming his stake by ~3.5%. Routine liquidity sales are common, but some investors view insider sales as a modest negative signal. SEC Form 4

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $369.83 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $293.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $302.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $241.35. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $376.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The company’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given 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 dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.04.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,609 shares of company stock worth $2,914,628. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.