Old Port Advisors Raises Stock Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Old Port Advisors raised its position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 9.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 381 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 32 shares during the quarter. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in ASML were worth $370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 572,996 shares during the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the first quarter worth approximately $542,710,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of ASML by 21.6% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 1,657,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,608,921,000 after purchasing an additional 294,784 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ASML by 48,040.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $186,202,000 after purchasing an additional 245,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in ASML by 11,084.1% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 246,050 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $238,784,000 after acquiring an additional 243,850 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ASML shares. Susquehanna upped their price objective on ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI began coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,147.80.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of ASML traded down $74.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $809.35. 3,624,112 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,681,006. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $997.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $950.33. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $563.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $319.36 billion, a PE ratio of 41.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be issued a $1.8732 dividend. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is an increase from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.50%.

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.