Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Grows Stock Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,487 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,628 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $6,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in ASML by 94,079.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,096,410,000 after purchasing an additional 491,096 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,464,061,000 after buying an additional 474,653 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in ASML during the 3rd quarter worth $125,952,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in ASML by 281.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 156,693 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $108,601,000 after buying an additional 115,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of ASML by 97,001.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 113,609 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $94,665,000 after acquiring an additional 113,492 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ASML. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $937.00.

ASML Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of ASML stock opened at $727.70 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $286.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.47. ASML Holding has a 1 year low of $645.45 and a 1 year high of $1,110.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $725.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $766.81. 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 (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a $1.5855 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.83%.

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.