Planned Solutions Inc. Takes Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 144 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ASML. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of ASML by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,607,702 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,123,710,000 after acquiring an additional 126,413 shares during the period. Sands Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ASML by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,495,236 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $880,186,000 after acquiring an additional 105,339 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in ASML by 2.0% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,214,574 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $714,971,000 after purchasing an additional 23,783 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in ASML by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,067,413 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $628,344,000 after buying an additional 274,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of ASML by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 981,659 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $536,378,000 after purchasing an additional 211,792 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ASML Trading Up 0.3 %

ASML opened at $974.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $919.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $750.25. ASML Holding has a one year low of $563.99 and a one year high of $1,056.34. The stock has a market cap of $384.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.49.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.34 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 68.32% and a net margin of 28.44%. On average, equities analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.48 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a $1.343 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 24.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of ASML from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Susquehanna raised their price target on ASML from $830.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James increased their target price on ASML from $850.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of ASML from $950.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $962.60.

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.