Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Down 3.3% After Analyst Downgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s share price traded down 3.3% during trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $563.00 to $538.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as low as $362.93 and last traded at $369.40. 7,881,417 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 0% from the average session volume of 7,869,869 shares. The stock had previously closed at $381.92.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Erste Group Bank cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $650.00 to $590.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. New Street Research lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.01.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total value of $394,806.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,732,245.36. This represents a 18.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total value of $3,594,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 128,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,637,780.25. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: ETFs bought $237 million of AMAT shares on November 2; 51 funds were buyers versus 26 sellers. Capital Group Dividend Value also added $146.3 million in shares, signaling institutional demand. Article Article
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results showed 41% growth in adjusted EPS and 52% growth in DRAM revenue, alongside raised revenue guidance. The company is also investing in capacity and hybrid bonding technology. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lowered its price target to $538 from $563 and maintained an Equal Weight/Hold rating. The cut reflects a more cautious view, though the new target remains above the reference share price. Article
• Negative Sentiment: AMAT has fallen sharply over the past month, and its November 12 earnings report is viewed as a key near-term test for whether the decline can reverse or continue. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Sector-wide chip weakness and ETF selling have pressured semiconductor stocks, creating a headwind for AMAT despite its company-specific earnings growth. Article

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $4,005,000. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,589,000. CX Institutional raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 333.3% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 25,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,631,000 after acquiring an additional 19,886 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,008,591 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $729,211,000 after acquiring an additional 28,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Applied Materials by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 462,685 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $334,521,000 after acquiring an additional 105,776 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $453.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $444.38. The firm has a market cap of $293.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.28%.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a technology company that supplies equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its products help customers fabricate the integrated circuits and other components used in computers, mobile devices, data centers, automobiles and a range of connected technologies.

The company’s offerings include systems for materials engineering, wafer fabrication, inspection and process control, along with equipment and services designed to improve manufacturing productivity and yield.