Sen. John Boozman Sells Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock

Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas) recently sold shares of Applied Materials, Inc. NASDAQ: AMAT. In a filing disclosed on May 14th, the Senator disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Applied Materials stock on April 16th.

Senator John Boozman also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Salesforce NYSE: CRM on 4/22/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Microsoft NASDAQ: MSFT on 4/22/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Microsoft NASDAQ: MSFT on 4/16/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Lam Research NASDAQ: LRCX on 4/16/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Oracle NYSE: ORCL on 4/16/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of UnitedHealth Group NYSE: UNH on 4/16/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Gilead Sciences NASDAQ: GILD on 4/16/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META on 4/15/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Bank of America NYSE: BAC on 4/15/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF NYSEARCA: HYG on 4/9/2025.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $174.14 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $148.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.05%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 972.2% during the 1st quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Edward Jones raised Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.86.

About Senator Boozman

John Boozman (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from Arkansas. He assumed office on January 3, 2011. His current term ends on January 3, 2029. Boozman (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent Arkansas. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022. Boozman won re-election in 2016. He faced Democrat Conner Eldridge, Libertarian Frank Gilbert, and write-in candidate Jason Tate in the general election. Arkansas' U.S. Senate race was rated as safely Republican in 2016. Boozman began his political career in the U.S. House. He won a special election in 2001 and served in that position until his election to the Senate in 2010. Prior to his political career, Boozman worked as an optometrist. As of a 2014 analysis of multiple outside rankings, Boozman is an average Republican member of Congress, meaning he will vote with the Republican Party on the majority of bills. Below is an abbreviated outline of Boozman's academic, professional, and political career: 2011-Present: U.S. Senator from Arkansas 2001-2011: U.S. Representative from Arkansas 1977: Graduated from Southern College of Optometry

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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