Craig Hallum Reiterates Hold Rating for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Craig Hallum in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $190.00 target price on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Craig Hallum’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 15.93% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AMAT. DZ Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, August 15th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Summit Insights downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.74.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $226.01 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $212.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $242.50.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Maseco LLP bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5,325.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.