Principle Wealth Partners LLC Invests $1.90 Million in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,746 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,903,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,654,921,000 after buying an additional 31,879 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC increased its position in ASML by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,855,624,000 after acquiring an additional 70,776 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 474,653 shares during the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its position in ASML by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 664,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $553,361,000 after acquiring an additional 25,600 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ASML by 94,079.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,096,410,000 after purchasing an additional 491,096 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of ASML stock opened at $744.08 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $725.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $766.07. The stock has a market cap of $292.74 billion, a PE ratio of 35.77, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. ASML Holding has a 12-month low of $645.45 and a 12-month high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a $1.5855 dividend. This is a boost from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.