Gary Dickerson Sells 20,000 Shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) CEO Gary Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total transaction of $14,704,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,599,843 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,236,570.46. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $72.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $650.91. The stock had a trading volume of 16,010,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,232,627. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $154.46 and a twelve month high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock has a market cap of $516.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.12, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $486.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $384.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 19.91%.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Applied Materials, with Erste Group Bank raising FY2026 and FY2027 earnings estimates and maintaining a Buy rating, while Cantor Fitzgerald also lifted its price target to $850 and kept an Overweight rating.
• Positive Sentiment: The company has benefited from strong AI infrastructure spending and a broader rally in chip equipment stocks, helping fuel a record-setting run and a massive June gain. Article: Stock Of The Month: Applied Materials Notches Best Rally Since 1975
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary continues to frame AMAT as a key AI chip-equipment beneficiary, with multiple articles highlighting record highs and strong fundamentals, including better-than-expected quarterly results and upbeat guidance.
• Negative Sentiment: Some traders are warning the stock may be overbought after its outsized run, and technical commentary suggests a reversal could happen after the sharp surge. Article: Stock Of The Day: Is This The Top For Applied Materials?
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market coverage noted that chip stocks were a weak spot even as the market moved higher, which may be pressuring sentiment around semiconductor names like Applied Materials. Article: Meta, CoreWeave, Salesforce, Corning, Bending Spoons, and More Stocks That Explain Today’s Market

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in 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 valued at $635,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares during the last quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 59.0% during the first quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,531,000. World Investment Advisors raised its holdings 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 valued at $21,149,000 after buying an additional 3,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avity Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 223,211 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $45,700,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, May 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.56.

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.