Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-four brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-one have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $246.7778.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. B. Riley raised their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was 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. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fulcrum Equity Management purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $258,000. Advance Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Red Spruce Capital LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 30,510 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,841,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Park National Corp OH purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $684,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 25,928 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,663,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.1%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $296.01 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $298.22. The company has a market cap of $234.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.10, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $250.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue 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 will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

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.