Rodgers Brothers Inc. Invests $1.28 Million in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Rodgers Brothers Inc. purchased a new stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,850 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,282,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amundi raised its holdings in ASML by 4,880.5% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 335,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $247,019,000 after acquiring an additional 328,552 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of ASML by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 807,257 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $559,494,000 after purchasing an additional 281,156 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in ASML in the fourth quarter valued at about $175,257,000. Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new stake in ASML during the fourth quarter worth about $137,386,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in ASML by 281.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 156,693 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $108,601,000 after buying an additional 115,603 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASML has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. DZ Bank upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $937.00.

ASML Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of ASML opened at $674.58 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $265.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.43, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $645.45 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $727.46 and a 200-day moving average of $731.53.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $1.5855 per share. This is an increase from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.35%.

ASML 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.