Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Insider Prabu Raja Sells 50,000 Shares

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) insider Prabu Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total transaction of $25,264,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,204,069.76. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT traded down $48.69 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $154.46 and a 12 month high of $510.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $359.67 billion, a PE ratio of 42.54, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s 50-day moving average is $407.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $341.53.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Applied Materials by 119.8% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 17,829,377 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $2,858,543,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 617.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,869,170,000 after purchasing an additional 7,856,576 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 25,824.4% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,370,167 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $86,610,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357,167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Truist Financial set a $575.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.13.

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.