Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Receives $210.96 Average PT from Analysts

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-three research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation and nineteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $226.7407.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $256.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.2% during the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 45,139 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,551,000 after acquiring an additional 4,896 shares during the period. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $72,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 7.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 65,494 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,504,000 after purchasing an additional 4,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BHK Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.2% in the first quarter. BHK Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,087 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $226.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $212.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Applied Materials has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $242.50. The stock has a market cap 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. 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%.

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.