Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 17,933 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 3,386 shares during the quarter. ASML comprises approximately 2.4% of Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $12,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in ASML by 94,079.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,096,410,000 after purchasing an additional 491,096 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of ASML by 37.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,464,061,000 after buying an additional 474,653 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at about $125,952,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in ASML by 281.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 156,693 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $108,601,000 after acquiring an additional 115,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in ASML by 97,001.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 113,609 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $94,665,000 after acquiring an additional 113,492 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

ASML Price Performance

Shares of ASML opened at $744.80 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $731.65 and a 200-day moving average of $760.09. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $645.45 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09. The firm has a market cap of $293.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.81, a PEG ratio of 1.65 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.

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 return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. As a group, analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $1.5855 dividend. This is an increase from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 25.67%.

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.