Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Up 4.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s stock price traded up 4.5% during trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $420.00 to $432.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as high as $395.95 and last traded at $395.0360. 9,599,856 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 16% from the average session volume of 8,308,146 shares. The stock had previously closed at $377.93.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on AMAT. Weiss Ratings upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $430.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.46.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,112 shares of company stock valued at $3,660,532. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target (from $420 to $432) and kept an Overweight rating, signaling additional analyst confidence and upside vs. the current share level. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Applied reported a Q1 beat (revenue and EPS ahead of expectations), issued stronger Q2 guidance and highlighted new transistor/materials engineering systems for 2nm and beyond — concrete drivers for near‑term bookings and margin leverage. Yahoo Finance Q1 coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple industry writeups emphasize AMAT’s central role in the AI/HBM supply chain (deposition/film tools, packaging), supporting sustained bookings and backlog visibility as AI/data‑center chip investment continues. MarketBeat supply‑chain piece
• Positive Sentiment: Fund/market commentary shows AMAT outperformed peers and the S&P over recent periods, reinforcing momentum and analyst optimism. Seeking Alpha Barchart
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied announced Supplier Excellence Awards — positive for supply‑chain relationships and operations but unlikely to move near‑term revenue materially. GlobeNewswire
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader risk‑on market moves (S&P/Nasdaq gains after easing AI disruption fears) amplified equipment‑name rallies, helping AMAT alongside company‑specific news. Barchart market session
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: recent Form 4s show CAO Adam Sanders and Director Judy Bruner sold shares (reductions ~10–12%), and TipRanks flagged additional insider sales — a potential near‑term sentiment headwind even if sales may be routine diversification. CAO Adam Sanders Form 4 Director Judy Bruner Form 4 TipRanks

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Warther Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,031 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 2,208 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,298 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 4.5%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $309.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $246.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $313.50 billion, a PE ratio of 40.43, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

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.