Argus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at Argus from $420.00 to $500.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Argus’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 25.52% from the stock’s current price.

AMAT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $435.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group raised their price target on Applied Materials from $480.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Erste Group Bank raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $465.14.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.7%

Shares of AMAT traded down $15.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $398.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,178,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,311,644. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $380.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $321.37. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $153.47 and a 52 week high of $448.45. The company has a market capitalization of $316.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.66.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. The trade was a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were 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. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,003 shares of company stock worth $2,678,139. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Insights Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Financial Insights Inc. now owns 1,455 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 97.4% in the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 99,419 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,980,000 after purchasing an additional 49,061 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 67.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,388,708 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $474,514,000 after purchasing an additional 558,489 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 16.0% in the first quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,799 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cim LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $206,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.