Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Down 4.5% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Applied Materials shares fell 4.5% on Monday, trading as low as $568.15 after closing at $602.50, with volume below average at about 7.1 million shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with several firms raising price targets; the stock currently carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $589.48.
• Recent earnings were strong, as Applied Materials beat estimates on both EPS and revenue, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share payable on September 10.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) traded down 4.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $568.15 and last traded at $575.39. Approximately 7,086,048 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 8,320,447 shares. The stock had previously closed at $602.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 target price on Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $589.48.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $456.72 billion, a PE ratio of 54.01, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $517.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $403.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at $79,534,609.56. This trade represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total transaction of $14,704,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,599,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,236,570.46. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,002 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.3% in the second quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Tema ETFs LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 18,181 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $13,145,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. Haven Capital Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $260,000. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 8.8% during the second quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 5,661 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $4,093,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. 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.

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