Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Down 2.7% – Time to Sell?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares were down 2.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $315.70 and last traded at $318.23. Approximately 9,226,946 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 8,204,933 shares. The stock had previously closed at $327.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $285.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Mizuho set a $275.00 price target on Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.89.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.7%

The business’s 50-day moving average is $263.24 and its 200-day moving average is $219.16. The company has a market capitalization of $252.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. The company 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%.Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.32 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 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, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 21.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,920,984 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,125,265,000 after acquiring an additional 391,540 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,836,807,000 after acquiring an additional 407,282 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 225.4% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,877,672 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,046,057,000 after buying an additional 10,305,182 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 72.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,483,183,000 after buying an additional 5,700,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,376,000 after buying an additional 3,583,751 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.