Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Up 2.2% – Time to Buy?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shot up 2.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $508.26 and last traded at $500.77. 8,246,938 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 12% from the average session volume of 7,361,466 shares. The stock had previously closed at $490.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $502.00 target price (up from $454.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. KGI Securities raised shares of Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.13.

Applied Materials Trading Down 9.7%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $407.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $341.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $359.67 billion, a PE ratio of 42.54, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.67.

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, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $507,600.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,544 shares in the company, valued at $11,944,800. This represents a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total transaction of $116,370.96. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,461.60. The trade was a 5.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.