ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 20.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,409 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,614 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $7,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its position in shares of ASML by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 2,128 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter worth about $1,174,000. Taurus Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,994,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in ASML by 5.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 140,802 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $117,323,000 after acquiring an additional 7,010 shares during the period. Finally, Stockman Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of ASML by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASML has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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 research report on Thursday, January 30th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. DZ Bank upgraded ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $937.00.

ASML Trading Up 2.3 %

ASML stock opened at $744.08 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $292.74 billion, a PE ratio of 35.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $725.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $766.07. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $645.45 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. Equities research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders 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 payout ratio 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.