Eastern Bank Reduces Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Eastern Bank reduced its stake in Applied Materials by 3.2% in Q4, selling 3,543 shares to hold 108,369 shares worth about $27.85 million.
• Large institutions (e.g., State Street, Capital Research, AllianceBernstein) have been materially increasing positions—institutional ownership is ~80.56%—while corporate insiders sold 12,003 shares (~$4.48M) last quarter (CFO Brice Hill and Director Judy Bruner among sellers), with insiders owning ~0.30%.
• Applied Materials beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.38 vs. $2.21; revenue $7.01B vs. $6.88B), issued Q2 FY2026 EPS guidance of $2.44–2.84, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 (annualized $2.12).

Eastern Bank cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,369 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 3,543 shares during the period. Eastern Bank's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $27,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,920,984 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $7,125,265,000 after acquiring an additional 391,540 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 72.5% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,483,183,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700,349 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,751 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,247,838,000 after purchasing an additional 3,280,730 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Record DRAM tools, new 2nm GAA tool announcements, a 15% dividend increase and steps to strengthen Asian logistics support renewed optimism about AMAT’s AI/DRAM exposure and cash returns to shareholders. Applied Materials Is Up After Record DRAM Tools, Dividend Hike And AI Supply-Chain Push
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst research (Erste Group) is modeling materially higher EPS for FY2026–FY2027 versus consensus (Erste’s FY2027 $13.96 estimate vs. current consensus ~ $9.38), signaling some brokers expect stronger multi-year profitability. Erste Group EPS Estimates for AMAT
• Positive Sentiment: Research notes point to growing end markets—high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced packaging for AI chips—that could accelerate AMAT revenue beyond cyclicality in legacy fabs. Can HBM and Packaging Demand Accelerate AMAT's Revenue Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and positioning pieces comparing ASML and Applied highlight both stocks as strong buys but emphasize different moats; ASML retains a premium for EUV dominance while AMAT is seen as cheaper exposure to broad equipment demand. ASML vs. Applied Materials: Which Chip Equipment Stock Offers Better Value in 2026?
• Neutral Sentiment: A MarketBeat piece flags that tech earnings growth hasn’t fully translated into ETF/stock price gains, suggesting broader market flow dynamics (not company fundamentals) may be capping AMAT’s rally. As Tech Earnings Grow, This ETF Still Hasn't Caught Up (AMAT)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst and media comparisons are elevating ACM Research (ACMR) as a better pure-play WFE/AI equipment buy, which can divert investor dollars away from AMAT in the near term. AMAT vs. ACMR: Which WFE Stock is the Better Buy Right Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles spotlight ACMR’s momentum and niche wins in wafer-cleaning and AI-driven segments, amplifying competitive fear and rotation risk for AMAT. This AI Semi Equipment Maker Has Been Quietly Chewing Up the Competition
• Negative Sentiment: Broad-sector weakness hit semiconductor-equipment names in a recent selloff (Teradyne, Intel, KLA, Semtech cited alongside AMAT), pressuring the stock independent of AMAT-specific fundamentals. Teradyne, Applied Materials, Intel, KLA and Semtech Shares Plummet

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 28,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $337.17 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $345.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $275.99. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $395.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $267.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 presently 18.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One 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, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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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