Lafayette Investments Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Lafayette Investments Inc. raised its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 427 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in ASML during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $307,620,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in ASML by 31,845.9% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 340,543 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $186,073,000 after acquiring an additional 339,477 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in ASML by 34.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,067,413 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $628,344,000 after acquiring an additional 274,562 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in ASML by 48,040.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $186,202,000 after acquiring an additional 245,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in ASML by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 981,659 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $536,378,000 after acquiring an additional 211,792 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of ASML traded down $12.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $876.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 594,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,227,320. The stock has a market cap of $345.96 billion, a PE ratio of 45.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $563.99 and a 52 week high of $1,056.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $959.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $791.79.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.34 billion. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 59.10%. On average, analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.343 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on ASML shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,050.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of ASML from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,036.00.

ASML Company 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.