Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Down 1.7% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) fell 1.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $591.68 and last traded at $592.79. Approximately 8,563,149 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 8,288,638 shares. The stock had previously closed at $603.04.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reportedly raised its price target on Applied Materials to $645, helping fuel a semiconductor rally and reinforcing bullish sentiment around the stock. 2 Chip Stocks Driving Today’s Rally With Lofty Bull Notes
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lifted its price target on AMAT from $502 to $647, signaling improved expectations even though the firm kept an “equal weight” rating. Read More
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials unveiled its AI-powered SENZ platform, designed to speed development of smart glasses by integrating optics, light engines, vision correction, and dimming into one system, which supports the company’s AI growth narrative. Applied Materials (AMAT) Unveils AI-Powered SENZ Platform to Accelerate Smart Glasses Development
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Applied Materials as part of the AI infrastructure “picks and shovels” trade is reinforcing investor interest in the stock. Millennium-Backed Trader Gains 61% With Bets on AI Backbone
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles show AMAT is drawing heavier trading attention and being discussed as a trending stock, which can add momentum but does not by itself change fundamentals. Is Trending Stock Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) a Buy Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor commentary noted Applied Materials advanced strongly in the prior quarter, supporting the view that the stock’s recent momentum is already well established. Applied Materials (AMAT) Advanced 33% in Q1

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 price target on Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $558.09.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.7%

The stock has a market cap of $470.65 billion, a PE ratio of 55.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $499.51 and a 200-day moving average of $391.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,534,609.56. This trade represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total value of $25,264,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at $180,204,069.76. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 worth $19,731,523,000 after acquiring an additional 330,197 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,751 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,947,891,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $2,858,543,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.