Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading 3.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMATGet Free Report) traded up 3.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $614.14 and last traded at $595.70. Approximately 6,188,395 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 26% from the average daily volume of 8,315,610 shares. The stock had previously closed at $575.39.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.48.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on AMAT

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.5%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $521.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $405.52. The company has a market capitalization of $472.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMATGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.13 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.43, for a total value of $14,398,392.09. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 146,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,184,361.88. This represents a 14.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total value of $14,704,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,599,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,236,570.46. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.1% in the second quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,002 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.3% during the second quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Tema ETFs LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 18,181 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,145,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. Haven Capital Group Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $260,000. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 5,661 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,093,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Applied Materials

(Get Free Report)

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.

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