Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Given New $502.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $454.00 to $502.00 in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

AMAT has been the topic of several other reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. DZ Bank raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $463.89.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $436.62 on Friday. Applied Materials has a 1 year low of $153.47 and a 1 year high of $448.45. The company has a market cap of $346.51 billion, a PE ratio of 41.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $379.09 and its 200 day moving average is $319.44.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.48% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 531 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. One Day In July LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. One Day In July LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,082 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Warther Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials posted record Q2 results, beating EPS and revenue expectations and lifting its outlook, with management citing strong AI infrastructure spending as a key growth driver. Applied Materials Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street turned more bullish after the report, with multiple firms raising price targets, including Bank of America, JPMorgan, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, Needham, and KeyCorp, reinforcing confidence in multi-year earnings growth. Applied Materials Sees Multi-Year AI Boom Driving Record Revenue And Growth Through 2028
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts highlighted a durable AI-driven semiconductor upcycle, suggesting Applied Materials could sustain elevated demand and margins through 2027-2028. Krish Sankar Reaffirms Buy on Applied Materials
• Neutral Sentiment: The broader market backdrop is weaker, with major indexes down as Treasury yields and oil prices rise, which is adding headwinds for high-valuation tech and AI stocks. Stock Market Today: Dow Falls As Oil Prices, Yields Jump; Applied Materials, Nvidia, Cerebras Slide
• Negative Sentiment: Even with the strong earnings report, the stock is slipping as investors rotate out after a sharp year-to-date rally, showing some concern that expectations may already be very high. Applied Materials slips despite record quarter and strong outlook (AMAT)

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.