Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Down 1.7% – Here’s What Happened

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares fell 1.7% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $473.67 and last traded at $484.19. 8,389,927 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 8,236,660 shares. The stock had previously closed at $492.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Argus set a $600.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $645.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $659.83.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $384.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $562.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $451.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total value of $5,547,872.50. Following the sale, the director owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,326,071.43. The trade was a 18.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at $180,204,069.76. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 277,820 shares of company stock worth $169,538,434 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 26.7% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 3,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 59.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $77,383,000 after acquiring an additional 157,426 shares during the last quarter. 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.