Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 799,470 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,252 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 0.6% of Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Applied Materials worth $205,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 225.4% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,046,057,000 after purchasing an additional 10,305,182 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,751 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,247,838,000 after purchasing an additional 3,280,730 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,552,132 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,160,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,681,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 617.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,869,170,000 after buying an additional 7,856,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.1%

AMAT stock opened at $389.90 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $358.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $293.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.91, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.64. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $132.80 and a one year high of $407.29.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company 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 given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of Applied Materials 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: New product catalysts — AMAT unveiled two chipmaking systems aimed at 2nm AI and HPC nodes (Precision Selective Nitride PECVD and Trillium ALD), which support stronger exposure to AI/HPC demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness — B. Riley raised its price target to $485 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing a multi-year upside from AI-related investment cycles. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Industry demand signals — TSMC’s upbeat outlook and broader DRAM/data-center coverage stories support secular demand for wafer-fab equipment suppliers like AMAT. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Potential new customer outreach — Bloomberg/Yahoo report Elon Musk’s Terafab team has contacted equipment suppliers including Applied Materials for quotes; this signals possible future demand but timing and scale are uncertain. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum coverage — Zacks notes AMAT was up ~14.6% over one week, making it a momentum candidate; that rapid move can attract both buyers and near-term profit-takers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer/valuation context — ASML’s narrowing premium vs. U.S. peers and other sector pieces provide background on relative valuations but don’t directly change AMAT’s fundamentals today. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Relative investment preference for NVIDIA — a Zacks comparison argues NVIDIA is the better buy now due to stronger data-center dominance and valuation, which could divert investor flows away from AMAT despite AMAT’s exposure to AI. Article Title

Applied Materials Company 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.