Jennison Associates LLC Purchases 572,996 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 50.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,719,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 572,996 shares during the period. ASML comprises approximately 1.1% of Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.44% of ASML worth $1,668,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of ASML by 118.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 656 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of ASML by 11,240.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 81,762 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $48,127,000 after purchasing an additional 81,041 shares during the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 3,311 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,949,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of ASML by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 15,152 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,920,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,013,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ASML Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ASML traded up $2.91 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $1,077.39. The stock had a trading volume of 881,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,123,197. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $983.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $922.41. The firm has a market cap of $425.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.49. ASML Holding has a twelve month low of $563.99 and a twelve month high of $1,087.79.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The semiconductor company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 27.23%. On average, analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.12 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were given a $1.343 dividend. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ASML. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on ASML in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,043.00.

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.