Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Up 6.1% – What’s Next?

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) were up 6.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $324.40 and last traded at $322.51. Approximately 8,217,671 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 8,155,509 shares. The stock had previously closed at $303.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $275.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $285.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Applied Materials from $273.00 to $364.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.15.

Applied Materials Trading Up 6.1%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61. The company has a market capitalization of $255.98 billion, a PE ratio of 37.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 issued 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 presently 21.20%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,298 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,227 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 4,582 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,404 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 38 shares during the period. 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.