Rakuten Securities Inc. Increases Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 99.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 774 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ASML. Kennebec Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 target price on the stock. DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $937.00.

ASML Trading Up 1.0 %

ASML stock opened at $690.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $271.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.18, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $645.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $732.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $742.65. 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 (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. Equities research analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $1.5855 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s payout ratio is 31.35%.

About ASML

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.