Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 121,172 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 23,421 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $31,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $274,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $85,301,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 498,238 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $128,042,000 after buying an additional 3,463 shares during the period. Saranac Partners Ltd lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Saranac Partners Ltd now owns 24,487 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,316,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 84.4% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 3,266 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $839,000 after buying an additional 1,495 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Applied Materials from $415.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group upped their target price on Applied Materials from $480.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 target price on Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, March 27th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $465.14.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials reported Q1 revenue of $7.91 billion, topping expectations, while non-GAAP EPS of $2.86 also beat estimates. Management’s next-quarter revenue guidance was stronger than analysts expected, pointing to continued AI-driven demand for semiconductor equipment and services. AMAT Q1 Deep Dive: AI Demand Drives Growth in Semiconductor Equipment and Services
• Positive Sentiment: Argus raised its price target on Applied Materials to $500 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling confidence in further upside from the AI infrastructure buildout and the company’s semiconductor manufacturing equipment leadership.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted rising earnings estimates and historic gross margin strength, suggesting investors are optimistic that profit growth can continue as premium products and services benefit from strong chip demand. Surging Earnings Estimates Signal Upside for Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Materials is drawing heavy investor attention and positive discussion around its international revenue trends, but these pieces appear more informational than immediate stock-moving catalysts. Investors Heavily Search Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT): Here is What You Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reportedly downgraded Applied Materials while upgrading Lam Research, which could temper enthusiasm despite the company’s strong fundamentals and may be contributing to pressure on the shares. Lam Research gets an upgrade, Applied Materials cut at Morgan Stanley

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 7,003 shares of company stock worth $2,678,139 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $406.91 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $322.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $382.08 and a 200 day moving average of $322.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.47 and a 1 year high of $448.45.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The company’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 17.28%.

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.