ASML Holding N.V. $ASML Shares Sold by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC decreased its stake in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in ASML by 153.8% in the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of ASML by 129.4% in the 2nd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Maseco LLP purchased a new position in ASML during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Arete Research raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of ASML from $1,105.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,076.33.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML stock opened at $1,006.98 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $980.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $830.69. The company has a market cap of $396.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.88. ASML Holding N.V. has a 12-month low of $578.51 and a 12-month high of $1,086.11.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $6.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.14. ASML had a net margin of 27.08% and a return on equity of 47.74%. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 29th were issued a $1.857 dividend. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 29th. This represents a $7.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. ASML’s payout ratio is currently 25.76%.

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.