HM Payson & Co. Sells 9,597 Shares of ASML Holding N.V. $ASML

HM Payson & Co. lowered its position in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,631 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 9,597 shares during the quarter. ASML accounts for approximately 1.4% of HM Payson & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in ASML were worth $95,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi raised its holdings in ASML by 91.6% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 642,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $403,215,000 after purchasing an additional 307,214 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 268,172 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in ASML by 6.3% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,244,254 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,401,304,000 after buying an additional 250,934 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in ASML by 114.3% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 329,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $264,333,000 after buying an additional 175,939 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in ASML by 32.4% during the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 413,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $331,198,000 after acquiring an additional 101,041 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ASML Stock Up 0.7%

ASML stock opened at $1,072.75 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. ASML Holding N.V. has a 1-year low of $578.51 and a 1-year high of $1,141.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $421.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1,052.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $899.05.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $6.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $8.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.74% and a net margin of 27.08%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 29th were paid a $1.857 dividend. This represents a $7.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 29th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ASML. Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of ASML from $1,175.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ASML from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of ASML from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,171.83.

ASML Profile

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) is a Dutch company that develops, manufactures and services advanced photolithography systems used to produce semiconductor chips. Headquartered in Veldhoven, Netherlands, ASML supplies capital equipment and associated software and services that enable semiconductor manufacturers to pattern the intricate circuits on silicon wafers. The company is widely recognized for its leadership in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography as well as its deep ultraviolet (DUV) platforms used across multiple process nodes.

ASML’s product portfolio includes EUV and DUV lithography machines, light sources, imaging optics and control software, together with spare parts, upgrades and field services.