Raymond James & Associates Grows Stock Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 205,880 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,090 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.05% of ASML worth $199,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 49.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in ASML by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 690 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 2.4% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in ASML by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Solidarity Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of ASML by 114.9% in the 3rd quarter. Solidarity Wealth LLC now owns 7,650 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,503,000 after purchasing an additional 4,090 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ASML. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. HSBC began coverage on ASML in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on ASML from $1,050.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James upped their price target on ASML from $850.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,036.00.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML stock traded up $18.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $918.97. The stock had a trading volume of 865,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,204,430. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $955.61 and its 200 day moving average is $804.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $362.62 billion, a PE ratio of 46.93, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.48. ASML Holding has a twelve month low of $563.99 and a twelve month high of $1,056.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.34 billion. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 56.99%. As a group, research analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.343 per share. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.02%.

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.