Legacy Capital Group California Inc. Purchases New Holdings in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 919 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in ASML by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 938 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in ASML by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of ASML by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 16,698 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $11,573,000 after buying an additional 4,217 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of ASML by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 24,554 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $17,018,000 after buying an additional 5,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shelton Capital Management boosted its position in shares of ASML by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 12,402 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,596,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ASML shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $806.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on ASML from $840.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut ASML from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $923.80.

ASML Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML opened at $689.63 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $760.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $725.63. The company has a market cap of $271.31 billion, a PE ratio of 28.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.76. ASML Holding N.V. has a fifty-two week low of $578.51 and a fifty-two week high of $945.05.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The semiconductor company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by ($1.39). The business had revenue of $8.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.72 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 49.47%. ASML’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.01 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be given a dividend of $1.856 per share. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $7.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. ASML’s payout ratio is 26.21%.

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.