Blair William & Co. IL Has $5.50 Million Stock Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 54.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,937 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 9,640 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in ASML were worth $5,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi lifted its holdings in ASML by 4,880.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 335,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $247,019,000 after purchasing an additional 328,552 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter worth $175,257,000. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter worth $137,386,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of ASML by 281.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 156,693 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $108,601,000 after acquiring an additional 115,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Appaloosa LP increased its position in ASML by 106.5% during the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 160,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $110,893,000 after acquiring an additional 82,500 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BNP Paribas started coverage on ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target for the company. 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 research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $937.00.

ASML Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of ASML opened at $674.58 on Monday. 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 Holding has a 52-week low of $645.45 and a 52-week high of $1,110.09. The firm has a market cap of $265.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.43, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s fifty day moving average is $727.46 and its 200-day moving average is $731.53.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a $1.5855 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.35%.

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.