ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 35.5% in the fourth quarter, ending with 1.55 million shares valued at about $398.6 million.
• Applied Materials posted strong quarterly results, beating analyst expectations with $2.86 EPS on $7.91 billion in revenue, while also guiding Q3 2026 EPS at $3.16 to $3.56.
• Analysts and investors remain broadly positive: several firms raised price targets, the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, and the company also boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.53 per share.

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 35.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,551,166 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 406,085 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises 0.7% of ProShare Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.20% of Applied Materials worth $398,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $55,180,000 after buying an additional 17,397 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $635,057,000 after acquiring an additional 145,050 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan lifted its position in Applied Materials by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $5,512,000 after acquiring an additional 12,132 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in Applied Materials by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $19,801,000 after acquiring an additional 17,288 shares during the period. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,531,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 7,003 shares of company stock valued at $2,678,139 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $502.00 price objective (up from $454.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $435.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Applied Materials to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Twenty-six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $463.89.

Applied Materials Stock Down 5.3%

AMAT opened at $413.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $380.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $321.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $328.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.66. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.47 and a 12 month high of $448.45.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 17.28%.

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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