Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Arizona State Retirement System

Key Points

• Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its AMAT stake by 3.4% in Q4, selling 7,920 shares and ending the quarter with 226,438 shares worth about $58.19 million.
• Insider selling has occurred recently — CAO Adam Sanders and director Judy Bruner disclosed sales, with insiders selling 12,003 shares (~$4.48M) over the last quarter and retaining roughly 0.30% ownership.
• Bullish catalysts and analyst momentum — AMAT beat quarterly EPS estimates, has multiple buy/overweight analyst actions with raised targets, is benefiting from AI/memory capex narratives and partnerships (e.g., Tesla Terafab, Advantest), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53.

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 226,438 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 7,920 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $58,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 6.9% in the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $55,180,000 after acquiring an additional 17,397 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,288 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 82.2% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $5,512,000 after purchasing an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $1,531,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business'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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer publicly called AMAT “a great buy,” highlighting the company alongside other equipment leaders; that endorsement can lift investor sentiment and retail interest. Jim Cramer on Applied Materials
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and podcasters (SemiAnalysis) argue DRAM demand from AI will outstrip capacity, implying elevated memory capex — a direct tailwind for equipment suppliers like AMAT. This narrative supports upside to multi-year equipment orders if memory pricing and fab spending accelerate. ‘DRAM Will Double or Triple From Here'
• Positive Sentiment: Applied joined Tesla’s Terafab project, which could lead to equipment supply opportunities if the initiative scales — a potential new revenue channel beyond core foundry/HPC customers. Applied Materials Just Joined the Tesla Terafab Project
• Positive Sentiment: Applied and Advantest deepened ties on the EPIC platform to better link fab processes and automated testing — a strategic move that can shorten time-to-market for advanced AI/HPC chips and make AMAT’s equipment more integral to customers’ value chains. Applied Materials Deepens Chip Test Links
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied set its fiscal Q2 2026 earnings call for May 14 — a near-term catalyst where management guidance and order commentary could drive stock moves either way. Earnings Date Announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple bullish write-ups and analyst summaries reiterate a favorable long-term thesis (AI + memory capex), but note AMAT’s rich valuation — these pieces support investor interest but also highlight that upside depends on execution and sustained end-market spending. Is Applied Materials a Good Stock To Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Micron is pushing U.S. lawmakers for tighter export restrictions on chipmaking tools; new legislation (and pressure on foreign vendors to align) could limit AMAT’s addressable market in China or complicate sales, creating regulatory risk to revenue. Micron Pushes US Congress on Equipment Sales

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $430.00 target price on Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $403.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.71 and a fifty-two week high of $413.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $365.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.72. The company has a market capitalization of $320.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.64.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.1 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. 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 18.83%.

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.

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