Aureus Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Aureus Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 5.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 323 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,654,921,000 after buying an additional 31,879 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC increased its holdings in ASML by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,855,624,000 after acquiring an additional 70,776 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in ASML by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,464,061,000 after acquiring an additional 474,653 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in ASML by 4,379.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $910,102,000 after purchasing an additional 870,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $836,300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML opened at $711.47 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market cap of $279.91 billion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $732.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $864.88. ASML Holding has a one year low of $645.45 and a one year high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group downgraded ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, 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 note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $961.00.

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.