Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Purchased by Sanders Capital LLC

Key Points

• Sanders Capital LLC boosted its Applied Materials stake by 42.6% in Q3, buying 3,280,730 shares to hold 10,978,990 shares (~$2.25 billion), making AMAT 2.8% of Sanders' portfolio and its 12th-largest holding.
• Applied Materials raised its quarterly dividend by 15% to $0.53 and will be added to the S&P 100, with analyst upgrades and AI-driven equipment demand supporting positive investor sentiment.
• Insiders have been selling recently — including CAO Adam Sanders and CFO Brice Hill — with 12,003 shares sold (~$4.48 million) in the last quarter, leaving insider ownership at about 0.30%, which could pressure sentiment if it continues.

Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 42.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,280,730 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up 2.8% of Sanders Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Sanders Capital LLC owned 1.38% of Applied Materials worth $2,247,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 3,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in Applied Materials by 17.4% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 49,529 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $9,067,000 after acquiring an additional 7,356 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% 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 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

More Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board-approved 15% increase to the quarterly cash dividend (from $0.46 to $0.53), marking nine consecutive years of raises — signals strong free-cash-flow generation and makes the stock more attractive to income and dividend-growth investors. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Planned addition to the S&P 100 (effective March 23) — likely to create incremental buying from index-tracking funds ahead of the effective date. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: New/strengthened customer R&D partnerships focused on AI memory (long-term R&D tie-up with SK hynix and collaboration with Micron on memory) — supports durable equipment demand for next‑gen DRAM/HBM and AI accelerators. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Broader market positioning toward semiconductors/AI: hedge funds and money managers are overweighting semiconductor-capital-equipment names (including AMAT) as AI capex remains a dominant 2026 trade theme. That institutional buying is supporting AMAT multiple and flows. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst attention and elevated price targets (median ~$415; multiple firms on “Buy/Overweight”) — helps underpin sentiment and provides buying interest on pullbacks. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Elevated retail and search interest reported by Zacks — signals attention but not directionally predictive by itself. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Takeover/industry M&A chatter (e.g., interest around BE Semiconductor Industries involving Lam and Applied) can boost sentiment but is speculative. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Macro risk: recent oil/ geopolitical-driven moves hit some chip names (Nvidia, Broadcom, Micron) — a spike in risk or higher energy prices can pressure tech cyclicals, including AMAT. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Notable insider sell activity and some institutional reallocations reported (large holders trimming in recent quarters) — could weigh on sentiment if selling persists. Article Title

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $341.53 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $334.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $261.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The company has a market cap of $271.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.65. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $395.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. UBS Group set a $430.00 target price on Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Summit Insights raised Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $363.46.

Applied Materials Company 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.

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