Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) CFO Sells $1,247,150.00 in Stock

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) CFO Brice Hill sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.86, for a total value of $1,247,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 136,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,901,331.18. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Applied Materials Trading Down 9.7%

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $48.69 on Friday, hitting $453.01. The stock had a trading volume of 11,893,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,404,755. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $154.46 and a one year high of $510.75. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $407.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $341.53. The stock has a market cap of $359.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.54, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 218.8% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 102 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, May 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on Applied Materials from $465.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays upped their target price on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.13.

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.