404 Shares in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Bought by Forefront Wealth Management Inc.

Forefront Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ASML. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in ASML by 34.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,108 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,589,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in ASML by 6.6% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 3,589 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,991,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in ASML by 31.1% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 856 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in ASML by 4.1% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in ASML by 33.0% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 262 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $937.00.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML stock opened at $716.22 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $730.88 and a 200-day moving average of $735.13. The company has a market cap of $281.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99. ASML Holding has a one year low of $645.45 and a one year high of $1,110.09.

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

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio 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.