Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Buys 108,822 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA increased its stake in Applied Materials by 226.5%, buying 108,822 shares in Q4 to hold 156,872 shares valued at about $40.3 million.
• Applied Materials beat Q4 estimates, reporting $2.38 EPS vs. $2.21 expected and $7.01B revenue vs. $6.88B, set Q2 2026 guidance of $2.44–$2.84 EPS, and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.53 from $0.46.
• Insider selling continues, with insiders offloading 12,003 shares worth $4.48 million over the past 90 days (insiders now own ~0.30% of the company), including recent sales by the CAO and a director.

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 226.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,872 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 108,822 shares during the quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $40,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 3,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.1% in the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,754 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at $10,778,624.78. This represents a 12.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $357.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $283.67 billion, a PE ratio of 36.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $339.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $267.01. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $395.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. 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 dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AMAT. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group set a $430.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price target on Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $363.46.

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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