Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Down 1.7% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) were down 1.7% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $473.67 and last traded at $484.19. 8,389,927 shares changed 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. William Blair started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $700.00 target price (down from $790.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $659.83.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.7%

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $562.67 and its 200-day moving average is $451.92. The firm has a market cap of $384.25 billion, a PE ratio of 41.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given 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 payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total value of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at $79,534,609.56. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total transaction of $5,547,872.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,326,071.43. This represents a 18.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 277,820 shares of company stock valued at $169,538,434. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $1,589,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 59.0% during the 1st quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $1,082,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 183.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,073 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,990 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 462,685 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $334,521,000 after purchasing an additional 105,776 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.