Vontobel Holding Ltd. Raises Stake in ASML Holding N.V. $ASML

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) by 17.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 53,432 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 8,118 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in ASML were worth $51,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in ASML by 6.3% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,244,254 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,401,304,000 after acquiring an additional 250,934 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of ASML by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 763,590 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $611,933,000 after purchasing an additional 37,994 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 61.0% in the first quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 708,062 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $469,183,000 after purchasing an additional 268,172 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in shares of ASML by 91.6% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 642,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $403,215,000 after buying an additional 307,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of ASML by 14.1% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 583,093 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $467,285,000 after buying an additional 72,164 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of ASML stock opened at $1,060.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $417.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1,049.37 and a 200-day moving average of $892.97. ASML Holding N.V. has a 52-week low of $578.51 and a 52-week high of $1,141.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.31.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $6.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.14. ASML had a net margin of 27.08% and a return on equity of 47.74%. The business had revenue of $8.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 29th were given a $1.857 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 29th. This is an increase from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $7.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASML has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Morningstar lowered shares of ASML to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,171.83.

About ASML

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) is a Dutch company that develops, manufactures and services advanced photolithography systems used to produce semiconductor chips. Headquartered in Veldhoven, Netherlands, ASML supplies capital equipment and associated software and services that enable semiconductor manufacturers to pattern the intricate circuits on silicon wafers. The company is widely recognized for its leadership in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography as well as its deep ultraviolet (DUV) platforms used across multiple process nodes.

ASML’s product portfolio includes EUV and DUV lithography machines, light sources, imaging optics and control software, together with spare parts, upgrades and field services.