Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading 4.4% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) traded up 4.4% on Monday . The company traded as high as $468.51 and last traded at $464.24. 9,153,488 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 14% from the average daily volume of 8,049,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $444.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 12th. Argus set a $600.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $515.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $650.00 to $590.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.45.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $498.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $466.19. The stock has a market cap of $368.42 billion, a PE ratio of 40.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The company had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total transaction of $3,594,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 128,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,637,780.25. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 58,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $700.36, for a total value of $40,845,695.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,619,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,134,473,243.48. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 86,821 shares of company stock worth $59,609,471. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $57,993,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,685 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,645,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,876 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.2% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,713,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,576,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,252,863,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a global provider of materials engineering solutions used to manufacture semiconductors, displays and other advanced electronic products. The company develops and supplies equipment, services and software that help customers build and improve the performance of chips and display panels.

Its semiconductor products support processes including deposition, etch, patterning, inspection, metrology and materials modification. Applied Materials also provides equipment and services for display manufacturing, including technologies used in producing liquid-crystal and organic light-emitting diode displays, as well as solutions for adjacent markets such as solar and other specialty applications.

Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials serves semiconductor and display manufacturers worldwide through operations, customer-support centers and research and development activities across major technology-producing regions.