Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Position Cut by Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.

Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 34.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,472 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,302 shares during the period. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harborfront Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Highland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,877,960. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total transaction of $394,806.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,732,245.36. The trade was a 18.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $430.01 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $483.12 and a 200-day moving average of $485.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.07, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $203.40 and a 12-month high of $739.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.28%.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials unveiled its approximately $5 billion EPIC Center in Sunnyvale, California, described as the world’s largest semiconductor equipment and process-technology research facility. The center, supported by companies including Intel, Micron, SK hynix, and Samsung, is intended to accelerate chip development and strengthen AMAT’s long-term position in advanced manufacturing. Applied Materials opens $5B semiconductor innovation center
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an Outperform rating and set a $600 price target. Other coverage highlights AMAT’s fifth consecutive earnings beat, improving earnings estimates, and what analysts view as attractive upside after the stock’s recent decline. Applied Materials could nearly double within 12 months
• Positive Sentiment: AMAT is being cited as a growth-at-a-reasonable-price semiconductor stock, supported by its broad wafer-fabrication equipment portfolio and expected benefits from expanding chip and AI infrastructure capacity. ASML vs. Applied Materials
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed: some firms remain bullish, while others are conflicted on the technology sector and AMAT specifically. A report also noted that 31 ETFs added AMAT shares, indicating continued institutional interest but not necessarily a near-term catalyst. Analysts conflicted on technology names
• Negative Sentiment: AMAT’s decline followed a six-session losing streak and weakness across chip stocks. Investor Day disclosures, including the company’s optical-inspection expansion and long-term targets, have not yet overcome investor concerns about near-term execution, elevated valuation, and semiconductor-sector volatility. Applied Materials drops during Investor Day

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AMAT. Erste Group Bank cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Applied Materials from $575.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $637.14.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a global supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat-panel displays and other advanced electronic products. Its technologies help customers build and enhance materials at the nanoscale, supporting processes such as deposition, etching, inspection, metrology and packaging.

The company’s offerings include semiconductor manufacturing systems, process-control and inspection equipment, and services designed to improve the performance, productivity and longevity of production equipment.