Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Down 1.8% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Applied Materials' stock price fell by 1.8% during mid-day trading, trading as low as $184.10 with significant decreased volume compared to its average sessions.
• Analysts have mixed ratings, with 17 buy ratings and 9 hold ratings, while the consensus price target stands at $204.74.
• The company reported earnings of $2.39 per share, exceeding expectations, along with quarterly revenue of $7.10 billion, which is a 6.8% increase year-over-year.
• Applied Materials declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, with a 0.99% dividend yield, indicating steady returns for investors.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 1.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $184.10 and last traded at $184.76. 1,376,904 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 7,281,179 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $158.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, B. Riley dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.74.

Applied Materials Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $148.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.69. The stock's fifty day moving average is $177.19 and its 200-day moving average is $166.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,588,422,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $1,085,600,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $882,396,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2,401.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,066,817 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $445,056,000 after buying an additional 2,944,193 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 18,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,824,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,647,430,000 after buying an additional 1,814,444 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.

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