Mengis Capital Management Inc. Makes New $1.78 Million Investment in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Mengis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,570 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,781,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $146,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co purchased a new stake in ASML in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,380,000. Edge Capital Group LLC increased its stake in ASML by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. increased its stake in ASML by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 451 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in ASML by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 727 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML opened at $735.96 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $732.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $757.27. ASML Holding has a 12-month low of $645.45 and a 12-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 market cap of $289.54 billion, a PE ratio of 35.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were 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 was Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASML has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $937.00.

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.