Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Makes New $501,000 Investment in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 655 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kennebec Savings Bank increased its position in ASML by 227.3% during the 4th quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of ASML during the third quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in ASML during the third quarter worth $44,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

ASML Trading Down 6.7 %

Shares of ASML stock opened at $683.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.53. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $645.45 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $732.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $744.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.75 billion, a PE ratio of 32.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $1.5855 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

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.