Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 2,296 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,251 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,296 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.0% during the third quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 657 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.0% in the third quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Welch Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $329.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61. The company has a market capitalization of $261.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $290.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.85. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $344.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The business’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, January 12th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $385.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.15.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied launched new deposition, etch and materials systems (Viva™, Sym3™ Z Magnum™, Spectral™ ALD) aimed at improving 2nm GAA transistor performance; tools are already being adopted by leading foundries, which supports revenue upside from AI-driven logic demand. Applied Materials Unveils Transistor and Wiring Innovations for Faster AI Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain bullish: recent upgrades/reiterates and higher price targets (e.g., RBC $385, UBS lift, Morgan Stanley overweight) reinforce upside expectations and likely support buying interest. UBS Lifts Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) Target, Reiterates Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical setup improved after AMAT crossed above the 20‑day moving average, a short-term bullish sign that can attract momentum traders. AMAT Crossed Above the 20-Day Moving Average
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and Barchart previews expect AI-driven demand to support AMAT even as revenues/EPS may be down year-over-year in Q1 — this keeps sentiment mixed: long-term thesis remains intact but near-term prints could disappoint. Applied Materials Q1 Earnings Preview
• Positive Sentiment: Shares have climbed recently (monthly gains noted by coverage), reflecting investor appetite for AMAT’s exposure to wafer fab tools, advanced packaging and AI-related capex. AMAT Climbs 8% in a Month
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sales have been reported (several recent open‑market sales), which can weigh on sentiment for short windows even if not uncommon at large caps. Applied Materials Launches Advanced Chipmaking Systems (Quiver summary)
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest data are mixed/noisy: January showed a material decline in short positions (fewer shorts = less downward pressure), but a February data entry was anomalous/unclear — noisy data can create uncertainty for traders relying on short‑interest signals.

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.