Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by National Pension Service

Key Points

• National Pension Service cut its Applied Materials stake by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 322,036 shares and leaving it with 1.94 million shares worth about $497.4 million.
• Applied Materials reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.86 on revenue of $7.91 billion, and raised its Q3 2026 guidance to $3.16-$3.56 EPS.
• Wall Street sentiment remains upbeat: several analysts recently raised targets, including Barclays to $500 and UBS to $515, while the stock also received a dividend increase to $0.53 per quarter.

National Pension Service decreased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,935,654 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 322,036 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.24% of Applied Materials worth $497,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $19,731,523,000 after acquiring an additional 330,197 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 225.4% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $3,046,057,000 after acquiring an additional 10,305,182 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,563,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,751 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 42.6% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,247,838,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,552,132 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,160,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,681,911 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. HSBC started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $517.00 price objective for the company. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. KGI Securities raised shares of Applied Materials to an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $480.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $470.13.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $449.68 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $395.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $332.67. The firm has a market cap of $357.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.22, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.66. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.47 and a twelve month high of $462.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total transaction of $116,370.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,280 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,858,461.60. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $507,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,944,800. This represents a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: CEO Gary Dickerson said the semiconductor industry is experiencing its strongest period ever, with AI driving powerful long-term demand for chip equipment. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an Overweight rating and raised its price target to $575, signaling continued confidence in Applied Materials’ growth outlook. Benzinga report on Applied Materials analyst target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials’ recent partnership and packaging initiatives with Broadcom and SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions are being viewed as incremental wins for its AI chip packaging strategy. Applied Materials partners with Broadcom on advanced chip packaging technologies for AI systems
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest earnings beat expectations and it raised third-quarter guidance, reinforcing the view that demand remains strong. Applied Materials is up after raising Q3 outlook and expanding AI packaging alliance
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Judy Bruner and CAO Adam Sanders both sold small amounts of stock, but the transactions were relatively modest and do not appear to change the broader investment story. Insider trade filing for Judy Bruner

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.

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