Advisors Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 9.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,054 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 305 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $2,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,464,061,000 after purchasing an additional 474,653 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in ASML by 18.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,220,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,184,173,000 after buying an additional 194,357 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of ASML by 4,379.6% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $910,102,000 after buying an additional 870,010 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of ASML by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $836,300,000 after buying an additional 2,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of ASML by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 587,891 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $601,254,000 after acquiring an additional 93,851 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ASML shares. Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group lowered shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $970.60.

ASML Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of ASML stock opened at $672.88 on Friday. ASML Holding has a 52-week low of $645.45 and a 52-week high of $1,110.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $744.92 and its 200 day moving average is $873.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55. The company has a market capitalization of $264.73 billion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.51.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.21%.

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.