Stephens Inc. AR Reduces Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Stephens Inc. AR cut its holdings in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,263 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,717 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in ASML were worth $1,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 294,784 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in ASML by 15.4% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,220,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,184,173,000 after acquiring an additional 194,357 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of ASML by 4,379.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $910,102,000 after acquiring an additional 870,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $836,300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $671.16 on Tuesday. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $631.17 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09. The stock has a market cap of $264.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.14, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $789.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $895.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be paid a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ASML. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on ASML from $1,052.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $970.60.

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.