Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 90,066 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,411,223 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 90,066 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.36% of ASML worth $1,230,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ASML. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $910,102,000 after acquiring an additional 870,010 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 94,079.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,096,410,000 after buying an additional 491,096 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake 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. Tairen Capital Ltd lifted its stake in ASML by 321.2% in the second quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd now owns 202,946 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $207,559,000 after buying an additional 154,760 shares during the period. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in ASML in the third quarter valued at about $125,952,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $713.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $280.55 billion, a PE ratio of 37.34, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. ASML Holding has a 52-week low of $645.45 and a 52-week high of $1,110.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $711.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $852.09.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a dividend of $1.407 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 29.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ASML. UBS Group lowered ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut 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 cut their target price on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.