Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Increases Stock Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 25.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 55,866 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,247 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $38,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its position in ASML by 227.3% during the 4th 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. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ASML during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 target price for the company. DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $937.00.

ASML Stock Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $714.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $280.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. 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 Holding has a fifty-two week low of $645.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $733.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $740.87.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released 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 net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. Analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $1.5855 per share. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.