Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Cuts Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Key Points

• Azzad Asset Management cut its Applied Materials position by 46% in the first quarter, selling 11,788 shares and leaving it with 13,849 shares valued at about $4.73 million.
• Wall Street remains bullish on AMAT, with several analysts recently raising price targets; the stock currently carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target of $578.84.
• Applied Materials posted solid fundamentals, topping quarterly EPS and revenue estimates and raising Q3 guidance, while also announcing a $0.53 quarterly dividend payable September 10.

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV cut its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 46.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Applied Materials by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,858,543,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 617.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,869,170,000 after buying an additional 7,856,576 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% during 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 buying an additional 3,583,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 25,824.4% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,370,167 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $86,610,000 after buying an additional 3,357,167 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 target price on Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $650.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $578.84.

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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)

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total transaction of $5,547,872.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 40,559 shares in the company, valued at $24,326,071.43. The trade was a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $219,608,106.26. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.2%

AMAT opened at $588.66 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $154.46 and a one year high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $513.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $400.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $467.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.27, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.11 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Applied Materials 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.

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