Ninety One UK Ltd Sells 7,482 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Ninety One UK Ltd cut its position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 26.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,174 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 7,482 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in ASML were worth $16,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ASML in the 4th quarter worth approximately $307,620,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in ASML by 31,845.9% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 340,543 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $186,073,000 after acquiring an additional 339,477 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew 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 valued at $628,344,000 after acquiring an additional 274,562 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in ASML by 48,040.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $186,202,000 after acquiring an additional 245,488 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in ASML by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 981,659 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $536,378,000 after acquiring an additional 211,792 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ASML Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASML opened at $889.03 on Friday. ASML Holding has a 1-year low of $563.99 and a 1-year high of $1,056.34. The company has a market cap of $350.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $959.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $791.79.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. ASML had a return on equity of 59.10% and a net margin of 27.23%. The business had revenue of $7.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.34 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.4 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $1.343 dividend. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ASML shares. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of ASML from $830.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James raised their price objective on ASML from $850.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. HSBC assumed coverage on ASML in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,036.00.

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.