Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Has $72.22 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 352,735 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,921 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for about 1.0% of Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $72,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.9% during the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $55,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,397 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 13,360.6% in the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 694,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $127,129,000 after purchasing an additional 689,272 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in Applied Materials by 21.8% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Erste Group Bank began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board approves a 15% quarterly dividend increase (to $0.53/share), the ninth consecutive annual raise — underscores strong free cash flow and continued capital returns that support shareholder value. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Applied announced a long-term R&D partnership with SK hynix to accelerate next‑gen DRAM/HBM for AI/HPC — strengthens AMAT’s exposure to the fast-growing AI memory market and potential equipment demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Further collaborations with Micron on AI memory technologies reinforce recurring revenue opportunities from memory customers shifting capex toward AI‑optimized chips. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains favorable with multiple buy/overweight ratings and elevated price targets (median in the low‑$400s from recent broker notes), supporting upside expectations vs. current levels. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Takeover speculation: reports say AMAT (and Lam) have been linked to potential interest in BE Semiconductor Industries (BESI) — a strategic move would be meaningful if true but currently remains market rumor. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Increased investor attention/online searches flagged by Zacks — indicates heightened retail and institutional focus but does not itself change fundamentals. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term macro headwinds: broader chip names pulled back on oil/geo‑political risk that lifts energy and pressures growth names — a potential short‑term drag on AMAT sentiment if risk aversion persists. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional rebalancing and disclosed insider selling (recent large institutional position reductions and executive sales noted in filings/aggregators) could weigh on supply/demand dynamics; monitor 13F and insider filings for follow‑through. Read More.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $7.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $344.62. 1,633,302 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,882,590. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $333.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $273.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.65. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $395.95.

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 the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials’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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.