LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 357 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its position in shares of ASML by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 857 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 96 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 602 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of ASML stock opened at $722.32 on Friday. ASML Holding N.V. has a 12-month low of $578.51 and a 12-month high of $945.05. The company has a market capitalization of $284.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $758.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $724.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $1.856 per share. This represents a $7.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. ASML’s payout ratio is currently 26.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ASML. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $806.00 price target on the stock. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,100.00 to $965.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, New Street Research raised shares of ASML from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $923.80.

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.