Ninety One UK Ltd Grows Stock Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Ninety One UK Ltd grew its position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 119.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 64,587 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 35,161 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in ASML were worth $44,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in ASML by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 412 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter valued at about $220,000. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV increased its position in shares of ASML by 123.5% during the fourth quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 905 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,184 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,979,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. boosted its holdings in ASML by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 606 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ASML Price Performance

ASML opened at $731.41 on Wednesday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $720.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $771.01. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $645.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09. The firm has a market cap of $287.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.47.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 25.31 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a $1.5855 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. This is a boost from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ASML shares. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $937.00.

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.