Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target Raised to $425.00 at Cantor Fitzgerald

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $350.00 to $425.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 49.07% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.56.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $285.10 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $226.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.97, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.67. 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 has a 1-year low of $123.74 and a 1-year high of $298.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were 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 directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 225.4% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,046,057,000 after buying an additional 10,305,182 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,604,002,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 617.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,869,170,000 after buying an additional 7,856,576 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $1,409,320,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 72.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700,349 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.