Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Up 3.5% – Time to Buy?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares shot up 3.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $359.00 and last traded at $353.80. 5,970,375 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 7,786,786 shares. The stock had previously closed at $341.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Susquehanna upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $400.00 in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.46.

Applied Materials Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $346.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $280.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $276.55 billion, a PE ratio of 35.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.64.

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. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the 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 directly owned 28,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,778,624.78. The trade was a 12.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,180,000 after buying an additional 17,397 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,801,000 after buying an additional 17,288 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,512,000 after buying an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,531,000. 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.