Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,839 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $4,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ASML. Kennebec Savings Bank increased its holdings in ASML by 227.3% in the 4th quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ASML during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of ASML in the third quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASML during the third quarter worth $44,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

ASML Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of ASML stock opened at $703.37 on Thursday. ASML Holding has a 1-year low of $645.45 and a 1-year high of $1,110.09. The company has a market cap of $276.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.82, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $733.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $742.38.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $1.5855 dividend. This is a boost from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 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.