Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $435.91, but opened at $452.50. Applied Materials shares last traded at $459.0370, with a volume of 993,502 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $720.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Applied Materials from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.45.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $536.69 and its 200-day moving average is $460.63. The firm has a market cap of $360.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,184,361.88. This trade represents a 14.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Timothy Deane sold 8,621 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 134,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. This trade represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 231,692 shares of company stock worth $146,114,059 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,589,000. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,005,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 59.0% in the first quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $1,082,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 183.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,073 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $790,000 after buying an additional 1,990 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.