Wellington Management Group LLP Raises Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 53.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 807,257 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 281,156 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in ASML were worth $559,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank raised its stake in ASML by 227.3% during the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 740.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ASML in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in ASML by 133.3% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 56 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in ASML during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. DZ Bank upgraded ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $937.00.

ASML Trading Down 1.8 %

ASML stock opened at $662.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $260.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99. ASML Holding has a 12 month low of $645.45 and a 12 month high of $1,110.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $725.59 and its 200 day moving average is $730.56.

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

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.5855 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.35%.

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.