Intact Investment Management Inc. Sells 2,900 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Intact Investment Management cut its stake by 12.4% in Applied Materials, selling 2,900 shares and finishing the quarter with 20,400 shares valued at $5.243 million.
• Applied Materials beat Q4 estimates (EPS $2.38 vs. $2.21; revenue $7.01B vs. $6.88B), set Q2 2026 guidance of $2.44–$2.84 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 from $0.46.
• Several analysts raised price targets (some up to $450), leaving the consensus at a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $370.07.

Intact Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,400 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 2,900 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $55,180,000 after buying an additional 17,397 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Applied Materials by 4.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $635,057,000 after acquiring an additional 145,050 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan grew its position in Applied Materials by 82.2% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in Applied Materials by 21.8% in the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $19,801,000 after acquiring an additional 17,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,531,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was 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 owned 138,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays raised their target price on Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $370.07.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.6%

Applied Materials stock opened at $391.38 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $310.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.06, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.66. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $151.51 and a one year high of $420.50. The company's fifty day moving average price is $368.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $307.17.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend 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 currently 21.70%.

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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