M&T Bank Corp Has $58.12 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

M&T Bank Corp cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 283,863 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 11,179 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $58,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% in the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $341.53 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $334.48 and its 200-day moving average is $261.80. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $271.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.96, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.65. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $395.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Equities research 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 given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Applied Materials News Summary

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. UBS Group set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Craig Hallum reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

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.