Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,807 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 162 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,860,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,140,836,000 after buying an additional 1,502,995 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 15.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,656,034 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,038,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,635 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $1,085,600,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 20.7% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,189,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,043,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 43.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,573,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $808,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,428 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $228.47 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $232.07. The stock has a market cap of $182.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.82. The business’s 50 day moving average is $189.84 and its 200 day moving average is $176.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The company had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 21.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. DZ Bank cut Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, August 15th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.15.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.