Flputnam Investment Management Co. Has $9.62 Million Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. trimmed its position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,874 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 271 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in ASML were worth $9,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of ASML by 1.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,654,921,000 after purchasing an additional 31,879 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 3.3% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,855,624,000 after purchasing an additional 70,776 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,788,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,239,421,000 after buying an additional 31,231 shares during the period. Windacre Partnership LLC grew its position in ASML by 4.0% during the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 664,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $553,361,000 after buying an additional 25,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in ASML by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 402,758 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $335,598,000 after acquiring an additional 50,115 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $937.00.

ASML Trading Up 1.6 %

ASML opened at $708.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $278.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.07, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $733.15 and its 200-day moving average is $754.88. ASML Holding has a 1-year low of $645.45 and a 1-year high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. Equities research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $1.5855 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a boost from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.35%.

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.