Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys 40,178 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 346.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,769 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 40,178 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,152 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,205 shares in the last quarter. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $203,000. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.9% during the third quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 12,995 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,661,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2,796.0% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 224,907 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $46,047,000 after purchasing an additional 217,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 768,218 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $157,285,000 after purchasing an additional 40,165 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $341.34 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $344.60. The stock has a market cap of $270.66 billion, a PE ratio of 39.32, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $226.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.20%.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho upgraded AMAT to “Outperform” and raised its price target to $370 (from $275), citing a “significant acceleration” in wafer fab equipment demand — a direct near-term catalyst for order momentum and revenue visibility. AMAT stock: Mizuho sees ‘significant acceleration’ in WFE, upgrades rating
• Positive Sentiment: KeyBanc bumped its price target to $380 and Goldman Sachs lists AMAT among top semiconductor picks — reinforcing conviction across the sell side that Applied will benefit from rising deposition/etch intensity and diversified exposure across fabs. Applied Materials (AMAT) Gains Analyst Support as Multi-Year Semiconductor Tailwinds Take Shape
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile bullish commentary (Jim Cramer) is amplifying demand narratives — Cramer called AMAT a name with a shortage that “can’t be met,” which can drive retail/inflow interest and shorter-term multiple expansion. Applied Materials (AMAT) Has a Shortage That Can’t Be Met, Says Jim Cramer
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst pieces frame AMAT as a likely industry leader in 2026 (expectations of durable demand and margin leverage). That consensus bullishness supports higher forward multiples and investor appetite for shares. Analysts Expect Applied Materials Stock to Dominate in 2026. Should You Buy Shares Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces note AMAT is rising while the broader market dips — useful context for relative strength but not a company-specific fundamental change. Applied Materials (AMAT) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest figures in the feed appear to be erroneous/zeroed — no actionable signal from the published short-interest item (treat as data noise until an official update).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $250.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.