HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Stake in ASML Holding N.V. $ASML

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,385 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $217,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Binnacle Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 78.9% during the second quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 34 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV increased its position in shares of ASML by 1,150.0% in the 4th quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 25 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in ASML by 68.8% in the 4th quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 27 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in ASML in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASML opened at $1,844.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $725.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.39, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.79. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,781.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,568.23. ASML Holding N.V. has a 12 month low of $716.20 and a 12 month high of $1,999.96.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its earnings results on Sunday, June 28th. The semiconductor company reported $8.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. ASML had a net margin of 30.11% and a return on equity of 52.71%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter. Analysts expect that ASML Holding N.V. will post 44.85 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were issued a $2.1507 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $8.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 22.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ASML shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on ASML from $1,700.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on ASML from $1,971.00 to $2,623.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Morningstar lowered shares of ASML to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,970.33.

ASML Profile

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.