Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Takes $3.49 Million Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. purchased a new position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 5,030 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,486,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Kennebec Savings Bank increased its holdings in ASML by 227.3% during the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in ASML in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in ASML by 46.9% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 47 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in ASML by 133.3% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 56 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ ASML opened at $727.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $286.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. ASML Holding has a 12-month low of $645.45 and a 12-month high of $1,110.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $725.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $767.97.

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

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a $1.5855 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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