ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Bought by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 7.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 205,880 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,090 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in ASML were worth $199,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in ASML by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,013,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Savoie Capital LLC purchased a new stake in ASML in the 3rd quarter worth about $14,658,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in ASML by 48,040.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $186,202,000 after acquiring an additional 245,488 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP grew its stake in ASML by 69.2% during the 3rd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 11,529 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,787,000 after acquiring an additional 4,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 219.0% in the 4th quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 3,158 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML stock traded up $18.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $918.97. The company had a trading volume of 865,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,204,430. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $955.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $804.52. ASML Holding has a one year low of $563.99 and a one year high of $1,056.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $362.62 billion, a PE ratio of 46.93, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.48.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.34 billion. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 56.99%. Sell-side analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.04 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $1.343 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 27.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on ASML shares. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on ASML from $850.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, HSBC started coverage on ASML in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,036.00.

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.