Lockerman Financial Group Inc. Acquires 36 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Lockerman Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 380 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Lockerman Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Resources Management Corp CT ADV bought a new position in ASML in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WD Rutherford LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ASML during the first quarter worth $29,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in ASML in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. First Community Trust NA acquired a new position in ASML in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in ASML during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ASML. UBS Group lowered ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley cut ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays raised shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,185.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on ASML from $1,202.00 to $1,207.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,071.80.

ASML Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASML traded down $141.84 on Tuesday, hitting $730.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,319,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,290,349. ASML Holding has a one year low of $573.86 and a one year high of $1,110.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $288.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $846.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $923.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. ASML had a net margin of 26.50% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.37 EPS. ASML’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.38 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $1.8732 dividend. This is an increase from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $7.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.50%.

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.