Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Up 3.7% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Applied Materials shares rose 3.7% on Monday, trading as high as $641.18 on heavy volume that was 35% above average. The stock has been buoyed by strong recent momentum.
• Analysts have turned more constructive on the name, with several firms raising price targets, including Raymond James at $650 and UBS at $570. Overall, the stock carries a Moderate Buy rating with a consensus target price of $495.45.
• The company delivered solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and also raised guidance for Q3 2026. However, insiders have recently sold shares, including the CEO and an SVP, which may be a point for investors to watch.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) shot up 3.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $641.18 and last traded at $640.18. 10,441,349 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 35% from the average daily volume of 7,747,838 shares. The stock had previously closed at $617.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, May 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $415.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 target price on Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Applied Materials from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $495.45.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $508.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $451.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $365.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.39 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.1 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 19.91%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.75, for a total transaction of $42,587,906.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,695,164 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,503,625. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 189,767 shares of company stock worth $107,769,409 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $19,731,523,000 after buying an additional 330,197 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 119.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $8,405,458,000 after buying an additional 17,829,377 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,563,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,751 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,947,891,000 after acquiring an additional 373,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,858,543,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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