Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Mizuho lowered their price target on the stock from $215.00 to $205.00. The stock had previously closed at $223.23, but opened at $203.75. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Applied Materials shares last traded at $223.8870, with a volume of 5,952,041 shares changing hands.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AMAT. Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. DZ Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.48.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 63,488 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,998,000 after purchasing an additional 9,173 shares during the last quarter. Dnca Finance acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $4,197,000. Sirios Capital Management L P purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $17,007,000. Analog Century Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $64,509,000. Finally, Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 1,610 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $211.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.28. The stock has a market cap of $177.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly 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, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.93%.

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.