Vantage Investment Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Vantage Investment Partners LLC increased its position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 8.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,767 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 2,736 shares during the quarter. ASML accounts for 2.4% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $28,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in ASML by 4,379.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $910,102,000 after buying an additional 870,010 shares in the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co bought a new stake in ASML in the 1st quarter worth approximately $542,710,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of ASML by 94,079.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 491,096 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of ASML by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,464,061,000 after purchasing an additional 474,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 valued at $1,608,921,000 after acquiring an additional 294,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASML opened at $671.31 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $771.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $889.54. The company has a market cap of $264.11 billion, a PE ratio of 35.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51. ASML Holding has a 12-month low of $648.27 and a 12-month high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.77 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s payout ratio is 29.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group cut ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $970.60.

About ASML

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.