Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Up 2.1% on Analyst Upgrade

18 Dec 2025, 16:54 by Amy Steele · The Cerbat Gem

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) were up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after B. Riley raised their price target on the stock from $270.00 to $305.00. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as high as $260.82 and last traded at $253.50. Approximately 8,429,972 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 11% from the average daily volume of 7,624,967 shares. The stock had previously closed at $248.27.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Bank of America raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.78.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on AMAT

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 10,305,182 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,604,002,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 617.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 7,856,576 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,409,320,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Applied Materials by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after buying an additional 5,700,349 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company has a market capitalization of $201.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $238.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $201.74.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials’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. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.20%.

About Applied Materials

(Get Free Report)