Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $331.00 and last traded at $328.6740, with a volume of 45548 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $325.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. BNP Paribas Exane raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. DZ Bank raised shares of Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $285.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.89.

Applied Materials Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.79. The company has a market capitalization of $257.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were 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 $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.