Analysts Set Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) PT at $367.04

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-four ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $368.2857.

Several analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. KGI Securities upgraded Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $395.64 on Friday. 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 has a 1-year low of $132.80 and a 1-year high of $407.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $354.75 and a 200 day moving average of $291.92. The company has a market capitalization of $313.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.50, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.64.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Thursday, May 21st. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the company’s 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 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,405,458,000 after acquiring an additional 17,829,377 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,858,543,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 617.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,869,170,000 after acquiring an additional 7,856,576 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings 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 valued at $2,483,183,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $2,563,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,751 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.