ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Purchased by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 26.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,646 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,187 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $57,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of ASML by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,654,921,000 after purchasing an additional 31,879 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC increased its position in ASML by 3.3% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,855,624,000 after buying an additional 70,776 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,788,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,239,421,000 after acquiring an additional 31,231 shares during the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its position in shares of ASML by 4.0% in the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 664,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $553,361,000 after acquiring an additional 25,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 14.2% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 402,758 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $335,598,000 after acquiring an additional 50,115 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of 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. lowered 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, DZ Bank raised ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $937.00.

ASML Price Performance

ASML stock opened at $732.22 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $733.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $745.76. The company has a market cap of $288.07 billion, a PE ratio of 35.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. ASML Holding has a 12-month low of $645.45 and a 12-month high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued 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 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.