Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading 1.8% Higher – What’s Next?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shot up 1.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $472.49 and last traded at $472.46. 5,723,518 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 8,050,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $464.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Barclays increased their price target on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Craig Hallum lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $605.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $658.45.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.3%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $491.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $468.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $367.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The business had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,877,960. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total transaction of $3,594,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,637,780.25. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 86,821 shares of company stock worth $59,609,471 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $57,993,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,685 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 85.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $50,267,184,000 after buying an additional 32,018,892 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Applied Materials by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,405,458,000 after acquiring an additional 17,829,377 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,858,543,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,688,232 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,746,769,000 after acquiring an additional 1,558,749 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a global provider of materials engineering solutions used to manufacture semiconductors, displays and other advanced electronic products. The company develops and supplies equipment, services and software that help customers build and improve the performance of chips and display panels.

Its semiconductor products support processes including deposition, etch, patterning, inspection, metrology and materials modification. Applied Materials also provides equipment and services for display manufacturing, including technologies used in producing liquid-crystal and organic light-emitting diode displays, as well as solutions for adjacent markets such as solar and other specialty applications.

Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials serves semiconductor and display manufacturers worldwide through operations, customer-support centers and research and development activities across major technology-producing regions.