Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Down 9.7% After Insider Selling

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) fell 9.7% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $452.91 and last traded at $453.01. 11,673,707 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 58% from the average session volume of 7,399,866 shares. The stock had previously closed at $501.70.

Specifically, CFO Brice Hill sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.86, for a total transaction of $1,247,150.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 136,113 shares in the company, valued at $67,901,331.18. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total transaction of $25,264,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,204,069.76. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $435.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.13.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $408.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $342.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $359.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.39 EPS. The business’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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.91%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,101,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $635,057,000 after buying an additional 145,050 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan grew its stake in Applied Materials by 82.2% during the third quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 26,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,512,000 after acquiring an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 96,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,801,000 after acquiring an additional 17,288 shares during the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $1,531,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 82,296 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $21,149,000 after purchasing an additional 3,508 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.