Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases New Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 416 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 2,128 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of ASML in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,174,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 140,802 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,323,000 after purchasing an additional 7,010 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in ASML by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,322 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,243,000 after acquiring an additional 7,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of ASML by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ASML Stock Performance

ASML stock opened at $662.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $260.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $725.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $730.56. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $645.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09. 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 issued 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%. As a group, analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.5855 per share. This is a boost from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. ASML’s payout ratio is 31.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on ASML shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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.