Pzena Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,473 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,707,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.0% in the third quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 657 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% during the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 3,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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: Earnings and guidance outperformed — AMAT beat Q1 EPS and revenue estimates and management gave strong growth guidance, which has been cited as a primary driver of renewed investor optimism. 3 Under-the-Radar Earnings Surprises Could Signal a New Trend (AMAT)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and target raises — Zacks upgraded AMAT to a “Strong Buy” and several banks (Goldman, UBS, Barclays, Stifel) have lifted price targets and ratings in recent days, supporting upward momentum. Applied Materials (AMAT) Upgraded to Strong Buy: Here’s Why
• Positive Sentiment: Large bullish options flow — unusually heavy call buying (~97,138 calls, ~+231% vs. average) suggests traders are positioning for further upside or hedging long exposure, which can amplify near‑term gains.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst commentary — some outlets highlight differing views across analysts (valuation vs. secular cyclical upside), creating variable near‑term sentiment despite the bullish headlines. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Technology Companies
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reporting anomaly — filings show zero/NaN short interest and a 0.0 days‑to‑cover metric; this is almost certainly a data/reporting error and not meaningful for positioning today.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares (~$1.8M) on Feb 17, trimming his stake by ~3.5%. Routine liquidity sales are common, but some investors view insider sales as a modest negative signal. SEC Form 4

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value 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. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,609 shares of company stock worth $2,914,628. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley set a $420.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.04.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $369.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $293.54 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $376.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $241.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.83%.

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.