AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Reduces Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lowered its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 90.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,605 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 204,302 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials posted record Q2 results, beating EPS and revenue expectations and lifting its outlook, with management citing strong AI infrastructure spending as a key growth driver. Applied Materials Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street turned more bullish after the report, with multiple firms raising price targets, including Bank of America, JPMorgan, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, Needham, and KeyCorp, reinforcing confidence in multi-year earnings growth. Applied Materials Sees Multi-Year AI Boom Driving Record Revenue And Growth Through 2028
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts highlighted a durable AI-driven semiconductor upcycle, suggesting Applied Materials could sustain elevated demand and margins through 2027-2028. Krish Sankar Reaffirms Buy on Applied Materials
• Neutral Sentiment: The broader market backdrop is weaker, with major indexes down as Treasury yields and oil prices rise, which is adding headwinds for high-valuation tech and AI stocks. Stock Market Today: Dow Falls As Oil Prices, Yields Jump; Applied Materials, Nvidia, Cerebras Slide
• Negative Sentiment: Even with the strong earnings report, the stock is slipping as investors rotate out after a sharp year-to-date rally, showing some concern that expectations may already be very high. Applied Materials slips despite record quarter and strong outlook (AMAT)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $440.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $517.00 target price on the stock. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $463.89.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $436.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $346.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.66. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.47 and a 1-year high of $448.45. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $379.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $319.44.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.48% and a net margin of 29.31%.The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’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 transaction of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total value of $1,496,392.38. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.