Sit Investment Associates Inc. Sells 128 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. lowered its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 128 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $9,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of ASML by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,788,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,239,421,000 after buying an additional 31,231 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in ASML by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,252,849 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $868,324,000 after acquiring an additional 33,603 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of ASML by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 807,257 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $559,494,000 after acquiring an additional 281,156 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of ASML by 4,880.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 335,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $247,019,000 after acquiring an additional 328,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter worth about $175,257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of ASML stock opened at $605.55 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $716.73 and a 200 day moving average of $726.43. 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 $597.69 and a 1-year high of $1,110.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $238.24 billion, a PE ratio of 29.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.67.

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

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a $1.5855 dividend. This is a boost from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 31.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ASML. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, DZ Bank raised ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $937.00.

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.