Hancock Whitney Corp Acquires New Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Hancock Whitney Corp bought a new position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 329 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Resources Management Corp CT ADV purchased a new position in shares of ASML in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in ASML in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in shares of ASML during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASML opened at $670.48 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $737.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $868.72. ASML Holding has a 52-week low of $645.45 and a 52-week high of $1,110.09. The company has a market cap of $263.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ASML. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on ASML from $1,052.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley cut ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group downgraded shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $970.60.

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.