Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Down 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s share price traded down 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $411.51 and last traded at $415.38. 5,468,426 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 8,026,436 shares. The stock had previously closed at $421.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMAT. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $700.00 price target (down from $790.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Applied Materials from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $650.00 to $590.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.45.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $331.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $501.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $465.68.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.28%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total transaction of $465,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,877,960. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total transaction of $14,704,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,599,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,236,570.46. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 86,821 shares of company stock valued at $59,609,471. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Twin Peaks Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $12,291,000. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.2% in the second quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 105,987 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $76,629,000 after buying an additional 8,073 shares in the last quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $346,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 106.6% in the second quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,086 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $785,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a global provider of materials engineering solutions used to manufacture semiconductors, displays and other advanced electronic products. The company develops and supplies equipment, services and software that help customers build and improve the performance of chips and display panels.

Its semiconductor products support processes including deposition, etch, patterning, inspection, metrology and materials modification. Applied Materials also provides equipment and services for display manufacturing, including technologies used in producing liquid-crystal and organic light-emitting diode displays, as well as solutions for adjacent markets such as solar and other specialty applications.

Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials serves semiconductor and display manufacturers worldwide through operations, customer-support centers and research and development activities across major technology-producing regions.