Pzena Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,473 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 150.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

More Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Earnings and guidance outperformed — AMAT beat Q1 EPS and revenue estimates and management gave strong growth guidance, which has been cited as a primary driver of renewed investor optimism. 3 Under-the-Radar Earnings Surprises Could Signal a New Trend (AMAT)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and target raises — Zacks upgraded AMAT to a “Strong Buy” and several banks (Goldman, UBS, Barclays, Stifel) have lifted price targets and ratings in recent days, supporting upward momentum. 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) suggests traders are positioning for further upside or hedging long exposure, which can amplify near‑term gains.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst commentary — some outlets highlight differing views across analysts (valuation vs. secular cyclical upside), creating variable near‑term sentiment despite the bullish headlines. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Technology Companies
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reporting anomaly — filings show zero/NaN short interest and a 0.0 days‑to‑cover metric; this is almost certainly a data/reporting error and not meaningful for positioning today.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares (~$1.8M) on Feb 17, trimming his stake by ~3.5%. Routine liquidity sales are common, but some investors view insider sales as a modest negative signal. SEC Form 4

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $369.83 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $376.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.70. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $302.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $241.35.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price target on Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,914,628. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.