LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Buys New Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. bought a new stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in ASML in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kennebec Savings Bank raised its holdings in ASML by 227.3% during the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ASML during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ASML during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in ASML by 133.3% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 56 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML stock opened at $699.86 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $732.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $751.58. ASML Holding has a 12 month low of $645.45 and a 12 month 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 stock has a market capitalization of $275.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.47.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $1.5855 dividend. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ASML. DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $937.00.

ASML 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.