Earnest Partners LLC Sells 215 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Earnest Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,964 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $3,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,967,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,760,348,000 after purchasing an additional 95,795 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in ASML by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,719,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,668,386,000 after buying an additional 572,996 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in ASML by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 1,657,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,608,921,000 after acquiring an additional 294,784 shares during the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ASML by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,617,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,224,002,000 after acquiring an additional 121,847 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of ASML by 15.4% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,282,396 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,311,545,000 after acquiring an additional 170,992 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of ASML stock opened at $841.54 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $855.83 and its 200 day moving average is $933.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $331.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.98, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.49. ASML Holding has a twelve month low of $563.99 and a twelve month high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. ASML had a net margin of 26.50% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.37 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $1.8732 dividend. This is a boost from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. ASML’s payout ratio is currently 28.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on ASML shares. Morgan Stanley cut ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays upgraded ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group cut shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,147.80.

About ASML

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.