Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $288,000 in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 416 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rodgers Brothers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter valued at $1,282,000. Seven Mile Advisory grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 768 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 93.6% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of ASML by 120.9% in the fourth quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 201 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of ASML by 44.5% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,139 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ASML shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ASML currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $937.00.

ASML Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $662.63 on Tuesday. ASML Holding has a twelve month low of $645.45 and a twelve month high of $1,110.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $725.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $730.56. The company has a market capitalization of $260.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 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 expect that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

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

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.