Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $331.00 and last traded at $328.6740, with a volume of 45548 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $325.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Applied Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $360.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.89.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $257.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $266.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Traveka Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,404 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.0% in the third quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 657 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.