Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Holdings Lifted by Davis Selected Advisers

Davis Selected Advisers lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,553,992 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 596,399 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up 5.9% of Davis Selected Advisers’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Davis Selected Advisers’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,137,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 150.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied approved a 15% increase in its quarterly dividend (now $0.53/share), extending nine consecutive years of dividend growth — a shareholder?friendly move that signals management confidence in the AI/memory and logic tool cycle. Applied Materials Lifts Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Applied announced a collaboration with Synopsys and NVIDIA to speed quantum chemistry/materials simulations for semiconductor R&D (up to ~30x faster), which can shorten development cycles for advanced materials used in next?gen chips — reinforcing AMAT’s software+equipment value proposition to chipmakers investing for AI. Applied Materials Ties Quantum Simulations
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple bullish writeups and portfolio moves (Seeking Alpha features, InvestorPlace thematic piece on AI bottlenecks, and coverage noting interest from investors like Ken Fisher) amplify positive sentiment that AMAT will benefit from increased capex in AI chips and memory. Applied Materials: The AI Gold Rush Everyone Is Missing
• Positive Sentiment: Industry news: Belgium’s imec secured a rare ASML High?NA EUV tool to develop next?gen chips. While this is an ASML story, it underscores accelerating investment in advanced node tooling and materials — a demand tailwind for semiconductor equipment suppliers like AMAT. Belgium’s imec secures rare ASML High NA EUV tool
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent quarterly results beat EPS and revenue estimates but showed slight year?over?year revenue decline; management set Q2 guidance of $2.44–$2.84. These keep the fundamental story intact but don’t eliminate cyclical risk. MarketBeat AMAT summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Short?interest notices in recent filings show 0 shares / 0 days-to-cover — likely a data or reporting anomaly rather than meaningful short activity; treat these figures with caution. (Data entries dated March 17–18.)
• Negative Sentiment: The stock has posted a very strong run (reported ~86% in six months), which raises the risk of near?term profit taking and increases sensitivity to any execution/guidance disappointments or macro slowdowns given a relatively elevated P/E. 3 Reasons Investors Watch Applied Materials

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $349.47 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $337.99 and its 200 day moving average is $266.38. The company has a market cap of $277.34 billion, a PE ratio of 35.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.65. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $395.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The business’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.53 dividend. 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. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.46.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% 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.