Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Shares Sold by Generali Investments Management Co LLC

Generali Investments Management Co LLC lowered its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 81.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,788 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 42,311 shares during the period. Generali Investments Management Co LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. State Street Corp raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,920,984 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,125,265,000 after buying an additional 391,540 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,836,807,000 after acquiring an additional 407,282 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700,349 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,936,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,635,992,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,604,002,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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: Q1 outperformance and upgraded outlook drove conviction that demand for advanced-node and packaging tools remains strong — management beat estimates, gave solid Q2 guidance and highlighted 2nm/advanced‑packaging revenue drivers. Applied Materials (AMAT) Is Up 5.3% After Strong Q1, Export Deal And 2nm Push
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness: Morgan Stanley raised its price target (to $432) and other brokers have lifted targets and ratings recently, supporting upside expectations vs. the market run. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Industry positioning: Coverage notes AMAT is scaling up exposure to logic, DRAM/HBM and hybrid‑bonding/packaging tailwinds driven by AI, which supports multi‑year bookings and margins. AMAT Scales Up Logic, DRAM & Advanced Packaging
• Neutral Sentiment: SPIE presentation and fund commentary highlighted technical innovation and that AMAT outperformed some mutual‑fund portfolios, useful for medium‑term narrative but unlikely to move price alone. Applied Materials Presents at SPIE 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reports this week show anomalous/zero and NaN values — the published figures look unreliable and shouldn’t be treated as a clear bearish signal without confirmation from official exchanges.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CAO Adam Sanders (and other insiders) disclosed share sales (~534 shares), which can weigh on near‑term sentiment even if routine. CAO Adam Sanders Form 4 TipRanks: Insider Sales
• Negative Sentiment: Sector/peer weakness: Today’s pullback in several semiconductor-equipment and chip names is pressuring AMAT alongside profit‑taking after a large one‑year rally. MSN: Shares Falling — What You Need to Know

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price target on Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

Applied Materials Trading Down 4.9%

Applied Materials stock opened at $375.72 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $395.95. 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 $298.18 billion, a PE ratio of 38.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $314.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $248.22.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid 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 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 28,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,112 shares of company stock worth $3,660,532. Company 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.