Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

AMAT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. HC Wainwright set a $850.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a report on Monday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 target price on Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $658.45.

Applied Materials Stock Down 7.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $424.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $336.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a 50 day moving average of $510.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $464.89. Applied Materials has a 52-week low of $168.53 and a 52-week high of $739.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 12.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, insider Prabu Raja sold 10,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total transaction of $6,335,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,608,106.26. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 128,613 shares in the company, valued at $61,637,780.25. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 96,821 shares of company stock valued at $65,944,771. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Harborfront Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Highland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.