Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC Has $12.56 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,335 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,353 shares during the quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $12,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,920,984 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,125,265,000 after acquiring an additional 391,540 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,836,807,000 after purchasing an additional 407,282 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Applied Materials by 72.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after buying an additional 5,700,349 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 13.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,936,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,635,992,000 after buying an additional 1,075,525 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,604,002,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Technical breakout — AMAT recently moved above its 20‑day moving average, signaling short‑term bullish momentum for traders. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Strong recent performance — AMAT has climbed ~33.4% over three months, reflecting improving chip equipment demand (logic, DRAM, HBM) that supports revenue outlooks. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Solid fundamentals — Last quarter AMAT beat EPS estimates and reiterated strong mid‑term guidance (Q2 FY2026 EPS guide 2.440–2.840), supporting the view that equipment demand is recovering. (Background company filings and earnings release)
• Positive Sentiment: AI/data‑center tailwind highlighted — Market commentary on the $650B+ AI capex wave points to sustained demand for chipmaking tools; AMAT is specifically cited as a beneficiary in broad semiconductor ETF coverage. This is a structural growth tailwind for equipment makers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: New coverage — Erste Group initiated coverage with a “hold” rating, which is neither bullish nor bearish but may dampen near‑term momentum from institutional readers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparator analysis — A head‑to‑head piece comparing AMAT with smaller peers provides context but is unlikely to move the stock materially. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Odd short‑interest report — Recent short‑interest entries show “0 shares” and NaN changes, likely a data/reporting error; investors should treat that dataset cautiously until corrected.
• Negative Sentiment: Intraday pullback/volume — Despite the bullish technicals and sector tailwinds, AMAT is retreating on the session with below‑average volume, suggesting profit‑taking after the recent run may be weighing on the stock price today.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $346.53 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. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $395.95. The stock has a market cap of $275.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.47, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $325.05 and its 200 day moving average is $254.38.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.38 earnings per share. The business’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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Craig Hallum restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.46.

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.