Night Squared LP Acquires Shares of 25,515 Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Night Squared LP bought a new stake of 25,515 shares of Applied Materials (~$5.224M), making AMAT 1.9% of the fund's holdings and its 25th-largest position; institutional investors own about 80.6% of the stock.
• Applied Materials approved a 15% increase to the quarterly dividend to $0.53 and will be added to the S&P 100 on March 23, moves likely to attract index and income-focused buying.
• AMAT beat quarterly estimates with $2.38 EPS vs. $2.21 expected and $7.01B revenue vs. $6.88B, issued Q2 EPS guidance of $2.44–2.84, and has seen analyst price-target upgrades supporting positive sentiment.

Night Squared LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,515 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,224,000. Applied Materials makes up 1.9% of Night Squared LP's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Oasis Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,754,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $369,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $183,000. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.3% in the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 14,864 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Finally, Volterra Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $2,816,000. 80.56% of the stock is 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: 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 Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $341.53 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $334.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $261.80. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $395.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. The company has a market cap of $271.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share 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 company 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 firm earned $2.38 earnings per share. The firm'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 research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 18.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna raised shares of Applied Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $363.46.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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