Country Trust Bank Sells 7,735 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Country Trust Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 272,123 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,735 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for 1.2% of Country Trust Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $55,714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Copperleaf Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Copperleaf Capital LLC now owns 5,174 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,059,000 after buying an additional 616 shares during the period. Global Trust Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 12,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,615,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 63.6% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 718 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.2% in the third quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,284,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.6% in the third quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 35,055 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,177,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: TSMC’s blowout quarter (strong profit growth and sustained capex) lifted confidence in industry-wide wafer fab spending, directly benefiting semiconductor equipment suppliers like Applied Materials. Chip stocks pop after TSMC’s earnings beat boosts confidence in industrywide demand
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded AMAT citing accelerating AI-driven equipment spending—an explicit buy-side signal that major customers may increase orders for tools AMAT sells. Applied Materials surges after Barclays upgrade stock on AI spending
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple street upgrades and higher targets (Stifel, RBC initiation) were highlighted, raising analyst price targets and reinforcing buy-side conviction in AMAT’s market position and valuation gap to peers. Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock: Wall Street Upgrades Signal Confidence in Chip Equipment Leader
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage (Barron’s) ties TSMC’s heavy spending to gains for ASML, Lam and Applied — reinforcing the narrative that vendor revenue should rise as fabs expand capacity. ASML, Lam Research, Applied Materials Surge. Why Chip Stocks Are Getting a Boost.
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America’s bullish note (covered by AmericanBankingNews) projects strong price appreciation for AMAT, adding institutional support to the rally. Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights AMAT’s HBM (hybrid bonding) business hitting $1.5B in FY25 and management’s target to double that—signaling a concrete growth runway beyond cyclicality. Applied Materials FY25 HBM Revenues Hit $1.5B: A New Growth Driver?
• Neutral Sentiment: Benzinga and other analyst-roundup pieces summarize broad analyst coverage (23 analysts) — useful for sentiment but largely a consolidation of the upgrades rather than new catalyst news. A Glimpse Into The Expert Outlook On Applied Materials Through 23 Analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional commentary pieces (MSN, Zacks growth write-up) explain the breakout and long-term growth thesis but do not add new fundamental data. AMAT stock is breaking out – here’s what changed

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was 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. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a report on Sunday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.86.

Applied Materials Stock Up 5.7%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $319.08 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $259.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.77. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $331.00. The firm has a market cap of $253.01 billion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.67. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The business’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.20%.

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.