Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Up 7.4% – Here’s What Happened

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s stock price rose 7.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $572.50 and last traded at $564.55. 7,601,130 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 8,309,979 shares. The stock had previously closed at $525.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Citigroup raised their target price on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on Applied Materials from $570.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Truist Financial set a $575.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $593.84.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.9%

The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $439.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $539.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $420.23.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 19.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total value of $6,335,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,608,106.26. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total value of $5,092,941.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 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.