Blue Trust Inc. Reduces Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Blue Trust Inc. decreased its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 62.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 956 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,622 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in ASML by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,654,921,000 after purchasing an additional 31,879 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,855,624,000 after acquiring an additional 70,776 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,788,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,239,421,000 after acquiring an additional 31,231 shares in the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 664,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $553,361,000 after acquiring an additional 25,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 94,079.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,096,410,000 after acquiring an additional 491,096 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ASML. DZ Bank raised ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BNP Paribas began coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $937.00.

ASML Price Performance

ASML opened at $751.55 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $729.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $762.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99. ASML Holding has a 1 year low of $645.45 and a 1 year high of $1,110.09. The firm has a market cap of $295.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.13, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.47.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. As a group, analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $1.5855 per share. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.35%.

ASML Company 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.