Carnegie Investment Counsel Cuts Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Carnegie Investment Counsel reduced its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 1.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,194 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 16 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in ASML were worth $1,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,977,359 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,767,464,000 after purchasing an additional 105,196 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 50.0% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,719,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,668,386,000 after purchasing an additional 572,996 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 21.6% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 1,657,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,608,921,000 after purchasing an additional 294,784 shares in the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,617,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,224,002,000 after purchasing an additional 121,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,247,197 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $944,028,000 after purchasing an additional 32,623 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASML Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML traded up $14.29 on Wednesday, hitting $940.47. 255,966 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,225,259. ASML Holding has a 12 month low of $563.99 and a 12 month high of $1,110.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $371.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $969.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $955.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. ASML had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 26.50%. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $1.8732 per share. This represents a $7.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ASML. Barclays raised shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ASML presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,147.80.

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.