Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 46.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,849 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 11,788 shares during the quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 24,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total transaction of $14,704,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,599,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,236,570.46. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: CEO Gary Dickerson said Applied Materials has “tremendous visibility” into demand, suggesting chipmakers are planning further ahead than usual and that AI-related capital spending could stay strong for years. Applied Materials CEO Sees ‘Tremendous Visibility’ Into Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta Platforms plans to begin making its own AI chip lifted the broader semiconductor group, helping Applied Materials as investors bet on more wafer-fabrication equipment demand. Applied Materials stock jumps as Meta AI chip plan lifts semiconductor names
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary highlighted a rebound in AMAT as AI spending expectations improved and semiconductor equipment names drew renewed investor interest. Applied Materials (AMAT) Rebounds On AI Demand Outlook As Fair Value Debate Returns
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials also benefits from growing demand in advanced packaging, with management targeting more than 50% packaging revenue growth in 2026 as AI drives HBM and chiplet-stacking adoption. Can AMAT’s Advanced Packaging Drive Its Next Growth Phase?
• Neutral Sentiment: Some recent commentary argues AMAT may be late to the AI trade and that valuation has already run up, which could limit further upside if expectations cool. Applied Materials: You’re Late To The AI Party
• Neutral Sentiment: Susquehanna raised its price target on Applied Materials, reinforcing a constructive but still analyst-dependent outlook. Susquehanna Raises Price Target on Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT)

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $650.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners began coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Monday, May 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $578.84.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $588.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $513.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $400.88. 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 fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $739.67. The company has a market capitalization of $467.37 billion, a PE ratio of 55.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.Applied Materials’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.