Taurus Asset Management LLC Invests $16.99 Million in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Taurus Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,395 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,994,000. ASML accounts for approximately 1.7% of Taurus Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 4,379.6% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $910,102,000 after buying an additional 870,010 shares in the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co bought a new stake in ASML in the 1st quarter valued at $542,710,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 94,079.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,096,410,000 after purchasing an additional 491,096 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,464,061,000 after purchasing an additional 474,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its position 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 valued at $1,608,921,000 after purchasing an additional 294,784 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASML Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of ASML opened at $658.63 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $756.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $881.85. The company has a market cap of $259.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. ASML Holding has a twelve month low of $654.77 and a twelve month high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 47.61%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. As a group, analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.77 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of ASML from $1,052.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $970.60.

ASML Company 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.