ASML Holding N.V. $ASML Shares Sold by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) by 5.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,890 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $2,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in ASML by 26.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 952,385 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $631,079,000 after acquiring an additional 199,740 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in ASML by 0.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 905,708 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $600,175,000 after acquiring an additional 7,164 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in ASML by 101.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 731,271 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $484,562,000 after acquiring an additional 367,505 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its holdings in ASML by 2.7% during the first quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 710,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $470,910,000 after acquiring an additional 18,516 shares during the period. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its holdings in ASML by 61.0% during the first quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 708,062 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $469,183,000 after acquiring an additional 268,172 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Down 1.3%

ASML stock opened at $1,011.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $397.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.87. ASML Holding N.V. has a fifty-two week low of $578.51 and a fifty-two week high of $1,059.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $881.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $781.44.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $6.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.14. ASML had a return on equity of 47.74% and a net margin of 27.08%.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 earned $5.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 29th will be given a $1.857 dividend. This is an increase from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $7.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ASML. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research raised ASML from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on ASML from $965.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,051.60.

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.