Insider Selling: Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Director Sells $507,600.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Applied Materials director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares at an average price of $450.00, totaling about $507,600. After the sale, she still owned 26,544 shares valued at roughly $11.94 million.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $2.86 on revenue of $7.91 billion, and also issued strong Q3 guidance above prior expectations.
• Applied Materials raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 per share from $0.46, while analysts remain mostly bullish with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $470.13.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) Director Judy Bruner sold 1,128 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $507,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,544 shares in the company, valued at $11,944,800. This represents a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $1.43 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $449.68. The stock had a trading volume of 5,642,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,317,683. The firm has a market cap of $357.03 billion, a PE ratio of 42.22, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.66. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $393.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.47 and a fifty-two week high of $462.40.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.91%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 531 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. One Day In July LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. One Day In July LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,082 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 2.1% during the first quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Warther Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. KGI Securities raised Applied Materials to an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Applied Materials from $440.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $470.13.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed its Overweight rating on Applied Materials and raised its price target to $575, signaling confidence that the shares still have meaningful upside from current levels. Applied Materials analyst rating update
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are still digesting Applied Materials’ recently reported beat-and-raise quarter, including better-than-expected revenue and EPS plus higher Q3 guidance, which supports the view that demand for semiconductor equipment remains strong. Applied Materials beats estimates and raises outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials’ partnerships with Broadcom and SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions on advanced chip packaging and wafer cleaning at the EPIC Center reinforce its role in AI infrastructure and could drive longer-term growth. Applied Materials partners with SCREEN to bring advanced wafer cleaning technologies to EPIC Center
• Neutral Sentiment: A transcript from Applied Materials’ Bernstein conference appearance may provide additional detail on management’s outlook, but it is more of a follow-up source than a fresh market-moving catalyst. Applied Materials presents at Bernstein conference transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling by CAO Adam Sanders was relatively small and does not appear material enough on its own to change the investment story. Applied Materials CAO sells shares
• Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary noted that momentum stocks can cool after extended runs, which may add caution for a name like AMAT after its sharp move higher. Momentum stocks look unstoppable, look again

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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