Heritage Trust Co Makes New $712,000 Investment in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Heritage Trust Co bought a new stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,027 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $712,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ASML by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 3,186,667 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,208,615,000 after purchasing an additional 959,696 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in ASML by 4,880.5% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 335,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $247,019,000 after purchasing an additional 328,552 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in ASML by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 807,257 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $559,494,000 after buying an additional 281,156 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter valued at $175,257,000. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in shares of ASML in the 4th quarter valued at about $137,386,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ASML Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML opened at $668.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $263.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.67. ASML Holding has a 12 month low of $578.51 and a 12 month high of $1,110.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $706.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $718.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $1.5855 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This is an increase from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is 31.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ASML. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $937.00.

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.