Marietta Investment Partners LLC Cuts Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Marietta Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,168 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $3,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ASML. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of ASML by 34.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,108 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its stake in shares of ASML by 6.6% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 3,589 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,991,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of ASML by 31.1% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 856 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of ASML by 4.1% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in ASML by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 262 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Performance

ASML stock opened at $716.22 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $735.13. ASML Holding has a 1-year low of $645.45 and a 1-year high of $1,110.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $281.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. On average, analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current 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 issued a $1.5855 dividend. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASML has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $937.00.

ASML Profile

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.