Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Bought by Saranac Partners Ltd

Saranac Partners Ltd grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,587 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,968 shares during the quarter. Saranac Partners Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $381,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 28.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 30,458 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,236,000 after buying an additional 6,657 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $28,640,000. Sycomore Asset Management acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $4,664,000. Finally, Maple Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 90,930 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,617,000 after buying an additional 2,489 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $349.47 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $395.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $337.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.38. The company has a market capitalization of $277.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied approved a 15% increase in its quarterly dividend (now $0.53/share), extending nine consecutive years of dividend growth — a shareholder‑friendly move that signals management confidence in the AI/memory and logic tool cycle. Applied Materials Lifts Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Applied announced a collaboration with Synopsys and NVIDIA to speed quantum chemistry/materials simulations for semiconductor R&D (up to ~30x faster), which can shorten development cycles for advanced materials used in next‑gen chips — reinforcing AMAT’s software+equipment value proposition to chipmakers investing for AI. Applied Materials Ties Quantum Simulations
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple bullish writeups and portfolio moves (Seeking Alpha features, InvestorPlace thematic piece on AI bottlenecks, and coverage noting interest from investors like Ken Fisher) amplify positive sentiment that AMAT will benefit from increased capex in AI chips and memory. Applied Materials: The AI Gold Rush Everyone Is Missing
• Positive Sentiment: Industry news: Belgium’s imec secured a rare ASML High‑NA EUV tool to develop next‑gen chips. While this is an ASML story, it underscores accelerating investment in advanced node tooling and materials — a demand tailwind for semiconductor equipment suppliers like AMAT. Belgium’s imec secures rare ASML High NA EUV tool
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent quarterly results beat EPS and revenue estimates but showed slight year‑over‑year revenue decline; management set Q2 guidance of $2.44–$2.84. These keep the fundamental story intact but don’t eliminate cyclical risk. MarketBeat AMAT summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest notices in recent filings show 0 shares / 0 days-to-cover — likely a data or reporting anomaly rather than meaningful short activity; treat these figures with caution. (Data entries dated March 17–18.)
• Negative Sentiment: The stock has posted a very strong run (reported ~86% in six months), which raises the risk of near‑term profit taking and increases sensitivity to any execution/guidance disappointments or macro slowdowns given a relatively elevated P/E. 3 Reasons Investors Watch Applied Materials

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,778,624.78. The trade was a 12.19% decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Susquehanna raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

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.