National Bank of Canada FI Trims Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 42.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,800 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 32,463 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in ASML were worth $40,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 50.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,719,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,668,386,000 after buying an additional 572,996 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $186,202,000 after acquiring an additional 245,488 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in ASML by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 776,768 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $587,951,000 after acquiring an additional 203,860 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in ASML during the fourth quarter worth about $150,318,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of ASML by 21.2% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,111,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,078,584,000 after purchasing an additional 194,190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ASML shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on ASML in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,147.80.

ASML Stock Down 6.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML traded down $60.06 on Wednesday, hitting $872.75. 1,909,871 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,177,471. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.52. ASML Holding has a 1-year low of $563.99 and a 1-year high of $1,110.09. The company has a market capitalization of $344.38 billion, a PE ratio of 44.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,005.77 and its 200 day moving average is $942.60.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 26.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.3 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th will be given a $1.8732 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 29th. This is a boost from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. ASML’s payout ratio is 32.53%.

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.