Banco Santander S.A. Sells 540 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Banco Santander S.A. lessened its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 17.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,590 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 540 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in ASML were worth $2,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ASML. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ASML by 48,040.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $186,202,000 after buying an additional 245,488 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in ASML by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,608 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd. lifted its holdings in ASML by 219.0% during the 4th quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 3,158 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in ASML by 41.1% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,457 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML traded down $28.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $895.37. 2,133,629 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,199,329. The firm has a market capitalization of $353.30 billion, a PE ratio of 45.73, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.49. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $563.99 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,006.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $938.13.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. ASML had a net margin of 26.50% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.37 earnings per share. ASML’s revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.09 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th will be paid a $1.8732 dividend. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ASML shares. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,147.80.

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.