Albar Capital Ltd Trims Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Albar Capital Ltd trimmed its position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 53.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,846 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 17,079 shares during the quarter. ASML makes up approximately 2.3% of Albar Capital Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Albar Capital Ltd’s holdings in ASML were worth $15,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harvard Management Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 239.8% during the second quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. now owns 93,519 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $95,645,000 after purchasing an additional 66,000 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 41.1% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,457 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 169.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,661,000 after acquiring an additional 14,682 shares in the last quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ASML in the 4th quarter worth about $761,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in ASML by 25,520.0% in the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 1,281 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML opened at $814.00 on Wednesday. ASML Holding has a 52-week low of $563.99 and a 52-week high of $1,110.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $320.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.57, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $860.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $936.22.

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

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were issued 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 yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on ASML shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays upgraded ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley cut ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,147.80.

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.