Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Up 5.3% – What’s Next?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s stock price rose 5.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $456.78 and last traded at $454.89. Approximately 8,037,751 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 9% from the average daily volume of 7,357,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $432.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $517.00 price target on the stock. Summit Insights raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $415.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $465.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $361.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.71, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.66. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $388.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $328.11.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,731,523,000 after purchasing an additional 330,197 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,751 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,947,891,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,858,543,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.