Modern Wealth Management LLC Buys New Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,376 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,768,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,788,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,239,421,000 after buying an additional 31,231 shares in the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC raised its stake in ASML by 4.0% during the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 664,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $553,361,000 after acquiring an additional 25,600 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 4,880.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 335,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $247,019,000 after acquiring an additional 328,552 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 258,638 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $215,530,000 after purchasing an additional 35,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the 4th quarter worth about $175,257,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML stock opened at $726.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $733.15. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $645.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09. 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 firm has a market cap of $285.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $1.5855 per share. 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 presently 31.35%.

ASML Company 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.