Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Up 4.1% – Still a Buy?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares rose 4.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $336.47 and last traded at $332.71. Approximately 7,887,901 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 7,731,450 shares. The stock had previously closed at $319.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Mizuho set a $370.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $390.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $272.58 and its 200 day moving average is $223.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.67.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. State Street Corp increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,920,984 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,125,265,000 after acquiring an additional 391,540 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,836,807,000 after purchasing an additional 407,282 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 225.4% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,046,057,000 after purchasing an additional 10,305,182 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 72.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,751 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.