Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Up 2.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) was up 2.2% during trading on Wednesday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $260.00 to $390.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as high as $328.69 and last traded at $325.24. Approximately 7,863,604 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 8,190,423 shares. The stock had previously closed at $318.23.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Susquehanna upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.89.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 225.4% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,046,057,000 after purchasing an additional 10,305,182 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $1,604,002,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 617.2% in 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 buying an additional 7,856,576 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,409,320,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 5,700,349 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.2%

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 firm has a market capitalization of $257.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.47, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $265.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.06.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 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.