Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 22.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,543 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 641 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in ASML were worth $2,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ASML. Taurus Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in ASML during the third quarter valued at about $16,994,000. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,800,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of ASML by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,664,000 after buying an additional 3,321 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of ASML by 104.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,009 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,840,000 after buying an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in ASML by 8.5% during the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 34,767 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $28,970,000 after acquiring an additional 2,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Up 0.8 %

ASML stock opened at $718.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $282.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. ASML Holding has a 12 month low of $645.45 and a 12 month high of $1,110.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $709.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $849.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on ASML. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $943.83.

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.