Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Raises Stock Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 2.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,437 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in ASML were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Taurus Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in ASML in the 3rd quarter valued at about $16,994,000. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of ASML by 7.2% in the third quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 7.5% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,664,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ASML by 104.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,009 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vantage Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in ASML by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 34,767 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $28,970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ASML Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of ASML stock opened at $671.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $739.87 and a 200 day moving average of $870.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.51. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $645.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ASML. UBS Group cut shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upgraded ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on ASML from $1,052.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $970.60.

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.