Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Down 3.6% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Applied Materials shares fell 3.6% to $516.89 in mid-day trading, below the stock’s 50-day moving average of $544.21 but above its 200-day average of $424.08.
• Analysts remain broadly optimistic, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $599.19; several firms recently raised their targets, including Susquehanna to $900.
• The company reported quarterly EPS and revenue above estimates, with revenue up 11.4% year over year, and declared a $0.53 quarterly dividend. However, insiders sold approximately $169.7 million of shares over the past three months.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) shares dropped 3.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $493.64 and last traded at $516.89. Approximately 7,991,286 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average daily volume of 8,251,896 shares. The stock had previously closed at $536.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $599.19.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The firm's 50-day moving average is $544.21 and its 200 day moving average is $424.08. The stock has a market cap of $410.39 billion, a PE ratio of 48.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.57. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials's revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.91%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.75, for a total value of $42,587,906.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,695,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,503,625. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,326,071.43. The trade was a 18.57% 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 worth $169,654,805 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $19,731,523,000 after acquiring an additional 330,197 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Applied Materials by 119.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,947,891,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,858,543,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,688,232 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,746,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558,749 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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