Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Increases Stock Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,830 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 123 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $1,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its holdings in ASML by 227.3% during the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in ASML during the third quarter worth $43,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in ASML during the third quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the third quarter worth $44,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASML has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $937.00.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASML opened at $732.22 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $733.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $745.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $288.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $645.45 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. On average, equities analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given 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 was Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.35%.

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.