Prospector Partners LLC Sells 1,692 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Prospector Partners LLC lessened its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 25,425 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,692 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 6,174 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,806,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,914,628. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.8%

Applied Materials stock opened at $369.30 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $376.32. The company has a market capitalization of $293.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $300.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $240.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $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 analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

More Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings and guidance — AMAT beat Q4/Q1 consensus and management set aggressive forward guidance (Q2 EPS range and multi‑year growth commentary), which underpins current upside momentum. 3 Under-the-Radar Earnings Surprises Could Signal a New Trend (AMAT)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and estimate revisions — Zacks moved AMAT to a Strong Buy and multiple firms raised price targets (Goldman, Barclays, UBS, Stifel noted raising targets), reinforcing buy-side conviction and supporting higher valuations. 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) signals traders positioning for further upside or hedging existing longs; this can amplify intraday moves and short‑term sentiment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst commentary — some outlets flag conflicting views on valuation/sector rotation despite strong fundamentals, creating variable near‑term sentiment. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Technology Companies
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reporting appears unreliable — public feeds show zero/NaN short interest and 0.0 days‑to‑cover, which is likely a data glitch and not informative for positioning today.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale — CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares (~$1.8M) at about $361.21, trimming his stake ~3.5%. Routine personally motivated sales can be interpreted negatively by some investors even when small relative to total holdings. SEC Form 4

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.04.

About Applied Materials

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.