Wedbush Securities Inc. Grows Stock Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 227.3% in the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in ASML by 740.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT raised its stake in shares of ASML by 133.3% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 56 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ASML in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASML has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DZ Bank raised ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $937.00.

ASML Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of ASML opened at $615.84 on Tuesday. ASML Holding has a 1-year low of $578.51 and a 1-year high of $1,110.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $715.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $724.50. The stock has a market cap of $242.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.67.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. Equities analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.5855 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This is an increase from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s payout ratio is 31.35%.

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.