Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Up 1.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $261.32 and last traded at $256.41. 25,293,453 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 229% from the average session volume of 7,689,979 shares. The stock had previously closed at $253.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Bank of America upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, October 13th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, 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. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.78.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $203.32 billion, a PE ratio of 29.54, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $239.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $202.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued 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 company 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%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Maseco LLP bought a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.