B. Riley Financial Issues Positive Forecast for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective lifted by B. Riley Financial from $450.00 to $485.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. B. Riley Financial’s target price points to a potential upside of 23.80% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.29.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.9%

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $7.74 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $391.75. 2,174,959 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,462,918. Applied Materials has a 1-year low of $132.80 and a 1-year high of $407.29. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $351.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.90 billion, a PE ratio of 40.12, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total value of $1,806,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $55,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,397 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,288 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 82.2% in the third quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,512,000 after acquiring an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,531,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.