LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Makes New $347,000 Investment in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ASML. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 922 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 55,699 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $46,411,000 after purchasing an additional 4,903 shares in the last quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 56.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC now owns 2,891 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of ASML by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,182 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASML Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of ASML stock opened at $699.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $732.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $751.58. ASML Holding has a twelve month low of $645.45 and a twelve month high of $1,110.09. The company has a market capitalization of $275.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 1.62 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 (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 EPS 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%. Research analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $1.5855 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research 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 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. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.