Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Given New $600.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective cut by Stifel Nicolaus from $650.00 to $600.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AMAT. UBS Group increased their target price on Applied Materials from $675.00 to $695.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. HSBC dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $683.00 to $641.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Evercore set a $590.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Argus set a $600.00 price objective on Applied Materials and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Twenty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $589.23.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $370.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $294.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $437.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $446.02. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $203.40 and a 12-month high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.37% and a net margin of 29.29%. The business had revenue of $10.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.17 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 4.150-4.550 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 18.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.28%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total value of $394,806.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,732,245.36. This represents a 18.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total value of $3,594,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,637,780.25. This represents a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $4,005,000. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $1,589,000. CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 333.3% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 25,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,631,000 after acquiring an additional 19,886 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,008,591 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $729,211,000 after acquiring an additional 28,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 29.6% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 462,685 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $334,521,000 after acquiring an additional 105,776 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

These are some of the AMAT headlines that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Fiscal Q4 revenue reached a record $10.41 billion, up 53% year over year, while non-GAAP EPS rose 92% to $4.16; both topped analysts’ estimates. The company also reported higher margins and returned $2.42 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. Applied Materials Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s outlook points to continued momentum: it forecast Q1 revenue of $10.6 billion–$11.6 billion and expects Semiconductor Systems revenue to grow more than 40% in calendar 2026. AI-related chip demand and capacity investment are key drivers of the forecast. Applied Materials sees semiconductor systems growth above 40%
• Neutral Sentiment: Management said demand is running ahead of supply, but component shortages and customers’ limited clean-room capacity may constrain how quickly equipment deliveries can scale. China is expected to account for less than a quarter of business in 2027, reducing reliance on that market even as export restrictions remain a risk. Applied Materials Says Chip Demand Remains Much Higher Than Supply

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc. develops and supplies equipment, software and services used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its technologies help customers build and process materials at the microscopic scale required for chips and other electronic products. The company’s offerings include systems for depositing, removing and modifying materials, as well as inspection, measurement and process-control tools. It also provides equipment and services for advanced semiconductor packaging and supports customers with maintenance, upgrades and manufacturing software.