Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Insider Prabu Raja Sells 50,000 Shares of Stock

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) insider Prabu Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total transaction of $25,264,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at $180,204,069.76. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $453.01 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $408.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $342.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.46 and a 1 year high of $510.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $359.67 billion, a PE ratio of 42.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 19.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $415.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.13.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,731,523,000 after buying an additional 330,197 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,405,458,000 after acquiring an additional 17,829,377 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 40.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,751 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,947,891,000 after acquiring an additional 373,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $2,858,543,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.