ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Sold by Howe & Rusling Inc.

Howe & Rusling Inc. reduced its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,067 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 196 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $3,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in ASML by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,788,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,239,421,000 after acquiring an additional 31,231 shares in the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 664,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $553,361,000 after purchasing an additional 25,600 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in ASML by 4,880.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 335,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $247,019,000 after purchasing an additional 328,552 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in ASML by 16.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 258,638 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $215,530,000 after acquiring an additional 35,926 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ASML in the fourth quarter valued at about $175,257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target on the stock. DZ Bank raised ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. Two equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $937.00.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASML opened at $705.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $277.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.93, a P/E/G 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $730.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $732.96. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $645.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted 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 net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. Equities analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $1.5855 dividend. This is an increase from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 31.35%.

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.