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

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. NBH Bank acquired a new stake in ASML in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Binnacle Investments Inc boosted its holdings in ASML by 78.9% in the second quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 34 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV grew its stake in shares of ASML by 1,150.0% during the fourth quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 25 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on ASML shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of ASML from $1,971.00 to $2,623.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,970.33.

ASML Price Performance

ASML stock opened at $1,714.88 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $674.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.79. ASML Holding N.V. has a 12 month low of $766.24 and a 12 month high of $1,999.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,751.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,602.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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 $10.62 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ASML Holding N.V. will post 44.99 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

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

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.