Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Down 1.7% – Time to Sell?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright set a $850.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $605.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 14th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $700.00 price target (down from $790.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 14th. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $657.76.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.9%

The stock has a market cap of $380.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.38, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $558.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $454.37. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The company had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total value of $5,547,872.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,326,071.43. This trade represents a 18.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,184,361.88. This trade represents a 14.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 276,692 shares of company stock valued at $169,030,834. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Harborfront Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.