Rakuten Securities Inc. Buys 385 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 99.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 774 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in ASML by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 13,827 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,583,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in ASML by 272.0% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,430 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,377,000 after purchasing an additional 2,508 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of ASML by 1,328.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,168,000 after acquiring an additional 6,934 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of ASML by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,423 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,372,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors raised its position in shares of ASML by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 692 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASML has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DZ Bank raised ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $937.00.

ASML Price Performance

ASML stock opened at $690.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $271.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $732.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $742.65.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $1.5855 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s payout ratio is 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.