Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Up 6.1% – Should You Buy?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares traded up 6.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $324.40 and last traded at $322.51. 8,217,671 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 8,155,509 shares. The stock had previously closed at $303.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane raised Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.15.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $255.98 billion, a PE ratio of 37.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $286.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 21.20%.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $410,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 4,705 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $861,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 5,035 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.