Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target Raised to $255.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $250.00 to $255.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on AMAT. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. DZ Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, August 15th. Daiwa Capital Markets restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective (down previously from $185.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.74.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.2%

AMAT traded up $2.78 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $226.01. 15,242,336 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,648,314. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The company has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $212.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.80. Applied Materials has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $242.50.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials’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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.20%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. State Street Corp boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,920,984 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,125,265,000 after buying an additional 391,540 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,836,807,000 after buying an additional 407,282 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Applied Materials by 225.4% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 10,305,182 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 72.5% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 42.6% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 10,978,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,247,838,000 after purchasing an additional 3,280,730 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.