Ninety One UK Ltd Reduces Stock Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Ninety One UK Ltd lowered its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,174 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 7,482 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in ASML were worth $16,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its position in ASML by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 126 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Slow Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of ASML by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 4,407 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,336,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Alera Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 492 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 478 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allred Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Allred Capital Management LLC now owns 1,080 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of ASML opened at $889.03 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $959.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $791.79. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $563.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,056.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $350.80 billion, a PE ratio of 45.41, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 59.10%. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.34 billion. Equities analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.343 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. ASML’s payout ratio is 27.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASML has been the topic of a number of research reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of ASML from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of ASML from $830.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of ASML from $1,050.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, HSBC began coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,036.00.

ASML Company 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.