Amundi Increases Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Amundi raised its holdings in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 4,880.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 335,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 328,552 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in ASML were worth $247,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the fourth quarter worth $175,257,000. Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the fourth quarter worth $137,386,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of ASML by 281.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 156,693 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $108,601,000 after purchasing an additional 115,603 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in shares of ASML by 126.4% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 148,377 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $123,635,000 after purchasing an additional 82,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ASML by 2,825.3% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 84,191 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $58,351,000 after purchasing an additional 81,313 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped 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, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ASML has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $937.00.

ASML Price Performance

ASML stock opened at $732.22 on Monday. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $645.45 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $733.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $745.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $288.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $1.5855 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

ASML 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.