Howe & Rusling Inc. Sells 196 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Howe & Rusling Inc. cut its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,067 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 196 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $3,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its position in ASML by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 5,162 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,578,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the period. Account Management LLC increased its stake in ASML by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Account Management LLC now owns 8,750 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,064,000 after purchasing an additional 2,978 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its stake in ASML by 148.1% during the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 16,432 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,389,000 after buying an additional 9,810 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in ASML in the 4th quarter valued at $1,044,000. Finally, Wambolt & Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter worth about $353,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ASML shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target for the company. DZ Bank raised ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $937.00.

ASML Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of ASML opened at $705.76 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $732.96. ASML Holding has a twelve month low of $645.45 and a twelve month high of $1,110.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $277.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54.

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

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $1.5855 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a boost from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

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.