Insider Selling: Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) CAO Sells 268 Shares of Stock

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) CAO Adam Sanders sold 268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.22, for a total transaction of $116,370.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,280 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,461.60. The trade was a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $22.73 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $454.89. The stock had a trading volume of 8,042,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,357,380. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.47 and a 1-year high of $456.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $388.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $328.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $361.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.71, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.66.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its 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 net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials’s 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, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. 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. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $211,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $210,000. Summitry LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $288,000. WNY Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $390,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $15,014,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $415.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $465.14.

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.