Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Up 2.1% – Here’s Why

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s share price was up 2.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $519.50 and last traded at $518.21. 5,950,413 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 8,294,915 shares. The stock had previously closed at $507.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Truist Financial set a $575.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $603.23.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.3%

The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $554.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $434.07. The company has a market capitalization of $424.17 billion, a PE ratio of 50.16, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.14 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 19.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total value of $5,092,941.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. This represents a 6.02% 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, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total value of $6,335,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 346,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,608,106.26. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 26.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 30.1% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 3,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 59.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $77,383,000 after acquiring an additional 157,426 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.