Prospector Partners LLC Has $5.21 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Prospector Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 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 quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the third quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 113,028 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $23,141,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $302,000. MJP Associates Inc. ADV bought a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $578,000. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.2% during the third quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,658 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $954,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $369.30 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $376.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $300.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the firm 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. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, 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 transaction 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. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 9,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,914,628 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.04.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

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.