Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

10 Apr 2026, 06:22 by Doug Wharley · The Cerbat Gem

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Free Report) by 75.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,388 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 53,302 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.9% during the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $55,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,397 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 21.8% during the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,288 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 82.2% during the third quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,512,000 after purchasing an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $1,531,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

More Applied Materials News

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

Positive Sentiment: Applied unveiled new deposition systems aimed at the “angstrom era” (2nm/GAA) that are already being used by leading foundry/logic customers — a direct revenue catalyst because these tools address demand for advanced AI chips and node transitions. Applied Materials Introduces Deposition Systems for Angstrom‑Era Logic Chips
Positive Sentiment: Coverage and headlines across financial sites report the new tools as a major product win, helping the stock rally as investors anticipate larger orders and aftermarket revenue. Applied Materials (AMAT) Is Up 9.0% After Launching 2nm GAA Deposition Tools For AI Chips
Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness: Susquehanna raised its price target to $500 and kept a “positive” rating, providing a large upside signal that supports momentum buying. Benzinga
Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs included AMAT among top semiconductor picks, adding institutional credibility to the buy case amid improving valuations in the sector. Goldman Sachs Names Teradyne (TER), Applied Materials (AMAT), AMD (AMD) as Top Semiconductor Picks
Positive Sentiment: Independent commentary frames recent memory/semiconductor selloffs (Micron, WDC, AMAT) as a buying opportunity driven by strong AI demand — a sentiment that can attract value/momentum buyers. Memory Wipe: The Great TurboQuant Miscalculation (AMAT)
Neutral Sentiment: Macro and market context: easing geopolitical tensions and positive market breadth are supporting semiconductor names broadly, which helps AMAT alongside company‑specific news. Dow Jones Futures Fall, Oil Prices Rise After Iran Ceasefire Rally…
Neutral Sentiment: Valuation/watchers: some writeups question whether the recent run (strong YTD and 1‑year performance) leaves less margin for error — keep an eye on execution and order flow to validate the rally. Is It Too Late To Consider Applied Materials (AMAT) After 177% One Year Surge?

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Susquehanna increased 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, March 27th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.04.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Applied Materials

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $397.81 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.80 and a 12-month high of $398.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $315.71 billion, a PE ratio of 40.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $350.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $286.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.