Independence Bank of Kentucky Has $1.58 Million Stock Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 42.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,899 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in ASML were worth $1,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ASML. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in ASML by 4,379.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $910,102,000 after acquiring an additional 870,010 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in ASML by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,719,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,668,386,000 after acquiring an additional 572,996 shares during the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co purchased a new position in ASML during the 1st quarter worth $542,710,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in ASML by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 1,657,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,608,921,000 after acquiring an additional 294,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in ASML by 11,084.1% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 246,050 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $238,784,000 after acquiring an additional 243,850 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ASML. Barclays raised shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of ASML from $1,202.00 to $1,207.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ASML presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,071.80.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of ASML traded up $5.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $839.40. 196,027 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,243,258. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $844.34 and a 200-day moving average of $925.55. ASML Holding has a one year low of $573.86 and a one year high of $1,110.09. The firm has a market cap of $330.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.79, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 26.50%. ASML’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $1.8732 per share. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is 30.17%.

ASML Profile

ASML Holding N.V. develops, produces, markets, sells, and services advanced semiconductor equipment systems for chipmakers. It offers advanced semiconductor equipment systems, including lithography, metrology, and inspection systems. The company also provides extreme ultraviolet lithography systems; and deep ultraviolet lithography systems comprising immersion and dry lithography solutions to manufacture various range of semiconductor nodes and technologies.