Creative Planning Raises Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Creative Planning grew its position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 11.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,197 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 2,672 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in ASML were worth $26,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 636 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC purchased a new position in ASML in the 4th quarter worth about $239,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 98 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of ASML by 76.1% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 143,967 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $108,972,000 after acquiring an additional 62,205 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Performance

ASML opened at $841.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $332.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.98, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.49. ASML Holding has a 1-year low of $563.99 and a 1-year high of $1,110.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $855.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $933.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

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

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a $1.8732 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. 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 yield of 0.89%. ASML’s payout ratio is currently 28.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group downgraded ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.