ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Purchased by Paragon Advisors LLC

Paragon Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 36.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,524 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares during the quarter. ASML comprises about 2.3% of Paragon Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Paragon Advisors LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $6,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in ASML by 1.0% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,654,921,000 after acquiring an additional 31,879 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC increased its position in ASML by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,855,624,000 after purchasing an additional 70,776 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in ASML by 37.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,464,061,000 after buying an additional 474,653 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in ASML by 4,379.6% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $910,102,000 after buying an additional 870,010 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of ASML by 0.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $836,300,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASML Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML opened at $739.01 on Monday. ASML Holding has a 12-month low of $645.45 and a 12-month high of $1,110.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $290.74 billion, a PE ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $699.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $805.98.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ASML. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.