Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Down 1.2% – Time to Sell?
by Amy Steele · The Cerbat GemApplied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report)’s share price traded down 1.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $259.78 and last traded at $259.97. 2,180,453 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 7,576,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $263.05.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $250.00 to $285.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.78.
Check Out Our Latest Report on AMAT
Applied Materials Stock Down 1.2%
The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $206.14 billion, a PE ratio of 29.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $244.97 and its 200-day moving average is $207.19.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Applied Materials Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.20%.
Insider Transactions at Applied Materials
In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials
Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.