Cumberland Partners Ltd Sells 56,446 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Cumberland Partners Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,515 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 56,446 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings and guidance — AMAT beat Q4/Q1 consensus and management set aggressive forward guidance (Q2 EPS range and multi‑year growth commentary), which underpins current upside momentum. 3 Under-the-Radar Earnings Surprises Could Signal a New Trend (AMAT)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and estimate revisions — Zacks moved AMAT to a Strong Buy and multiple firms raised price targets (Goldman, Barclays, UBS, Stifel noted raising targets), reinforcing buy-side conviction and supporting higher valuations. 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) signals traders positioning for further upside or hedging existing longs; this can amplify intraday moves and short‑term sentiment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst commentary — some outlets flag conflicting views on valuation/sector rotation despite strong fundamentals, creating variable near‑term sentiment. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Technology Companies
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reporting appears unreliable — public feeds show zero/NaN short interest and 0.0 days‑to‑cover, which is likely a data glitch and not informative for positioning today.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale — CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares (~$1.8M) at about $361.21, trimming his stake ~3.5%. Routine personally motivated sales can be interpreted negatively by some investors even when small relative to total holdings. SEC Form 4

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Finally, B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.04.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,914,628. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $369.30 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $300.66 and a 200-day moving average of $240.45. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $376.32. 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 capitalization of $293.12 billion, a PE ratio of 37.80, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.