Northeast Investment Management Cuts Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Northeast Investment Management decreased its position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 33,918 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 6,882 shares during the period. Northeast Investment Management’s holdings in ASML were worth $23,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 2,128 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter worth $1,174,000. Taurus Asset Management LLC bought a new position in ASML during the 3rd quarter worth $16,994,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in ASML by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 140,802 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,323,000 after purchasing an additional 7,010 shares during the period. Finally, Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in ASML by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on ASML shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. DZ Bank upgraded ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $937.00.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML stock opened at $727.70 on Friday. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $645.45 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $725.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $767.97. The firm has a market cap of $286.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.53.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

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

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.