Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $470.1333.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Mizuho increased their target price on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Applied Materials from $440.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 15th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total value of $25,264,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,204,069.76. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total value of $116,370.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,461.60. This represents a 5.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 53,896 shares of company stock worth $27,135,121. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,731,523,000 after purchasing an additional 330,197 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 119.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,405,458,000 after buying an additional 17,829,377 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,376,000 after buying an additional 3,583,751 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,947,891,000 after buying an additional 373,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,858,543,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $453.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $359.67 billion, a PE ratio of 42.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $408.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $342.31. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $154.46 and a 12 month high of $510.75.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 19.91%.

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.