Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. Acquires 19 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 477 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC bought a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Certuity LLC raised its position in ASML by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 582 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the fourth quarter worth $276,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ASML by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Augustine Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in ASML during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,758,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

ASML Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML opened at $752.98 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $725.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $765.23. 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 Holding has a 12 month low of $645.45 and a 12 month high of $1,110.09. The company has a market cap of $296.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.20, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.47.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a $1.5855 dividend. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is 26.83%.

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.