Oasis Management Co Ltd. Purchases New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Oasis Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,450 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,754,000. Applied Materials makes up 0.3% of Oasis Management Co Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $341.53 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $395.95. The firm has a market cap of $271.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $334.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Applied Materials News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board-approved 15% increase to the quarterly cash dividend (from $0.46 to $0.53), marking nine consecutive years of raises — signals strong free-cash-flow generation and makes the stock more attractive to income and dividend-growth investors. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Planned addition to the S&P 100 (effective March 23) — likely to create incremental buying from index-tracking funds ahead of the effective date. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: New/strengthened customer R&D partnerships focused on AI memory (long-term R&D tie-up with SK hynix and collaboration with Micron on memory) — supports durable equipment demand for next‑gen DRAM/HBM and AI accelerators. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Broader market positioning toward semiconductors/AI: hedge funds and money managers are overweighting semiconductor-capital-equipment names (including AMAT) as AI capex remains a dominant 2026 trade theme. That institutional buying is supporting AMAT multiple and flows. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst attention and elevated price targets (median ~$415; multiple firms on “Buy/Overweight”) — helps underpin sentiment and provides buying interest on pullbacks. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Elevated retail and search interest reported by Zacks — signals attention but not directionally predictive by itself. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Takeover/industry M&A chatter (e.g., interest around BE Semiconductor Industries involving Lam and Applied) can boost sentiment but is speculative. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Macro risk: recent oil/ geopolitical-driven moves hit some chip names (Nvidia, Broadcom, Micron) — a spike in risk or higher energy prices can pressure tech cyclicals, including AMAT. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Notable insider sell activity and some institutional reallocations reported (large holders trimming in recent quarters) — could weigh on sentiment if selling persists. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials 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.