Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $282.00 and last traded at $284.4490, with a volume of 2409334 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $268.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $246.78.

Applied Materials Stock Up 6.1%

The firm has a market capitalization of $226.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $247.75 and a 200-day moving average of $209.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.20%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 226.5% in the 4th quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 156,872 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,315,000 after acquiring an additional 108,822 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 19,530 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,019,000 after purchasing an additional 2,731 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 668 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its position in Applied Materials by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 5,553,992 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,137,124,000 after buying an additional 596,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 7,209 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,476,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% 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.