Umpqua Bank Acquires 502 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Umpqua Bank grew its holdings in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 23.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,684 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank’s holdings in ASML were worth $1,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

ASML Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $716.22 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $730.88 and its 200 day moving average is $735.13. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $645.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $281.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.53.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $1.5855 dividend. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ASML. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on 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. DZ Bank upgraded 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 ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.