Profund Advisors LLC Raises Position in ASML Holding N.V. $ASML

Profund Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,459 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $5,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ASML by 153.8% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of ASML by 129.4% during the second quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Maseco LLP bought a new stake in shares of ASML during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in ASML during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC grew its stake in ASML by 147.1% in the second quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Morningstar cut ASML to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of ASML from $1,105.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,076.33.

ASML Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of ASML stock opened at $1,016.96 on Monday. ASML Holding N.V. has a fifty-two week low of $578.51 and a fifty-two week high of $1,086.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $952.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $818.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $399.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $6.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.28 earnings per share. ASML’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

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

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.