Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Receives $246.78 Average PT from Brokerages

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-four research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-one have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $246.7778.

A number of research firms recently commented on AMAT. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. DZ Bank raised shares of Applied Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday.

Applied Materials Trading Up 4.6%

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $268.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $213.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $276.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.15.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $952,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% during the third quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 657 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 3,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.