Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Down 2.7% – Should You Sell?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s stock price fell 2.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $315.70 and last traded at $318.23. 9,226,946 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 12% from the average session volume of 8,204,933 shares. The stock had previously closed at $327.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $285.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.89.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $252.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $263.24 and a 200 day moving average of $219.16.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Secure Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 2,568 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $243,000. Ethos Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Finally, Sierra Legacy Group acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.