Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Position in ASML Holding N.V. $ASML

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) by 28.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,642 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 24,245 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $118,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in ASML by 195.8% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,544,705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,652,618,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,532 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of ASML by 223.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 287,225 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $379,368,000 after buying an additional 198,505 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of ASML by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,526,411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,633,046,000 after buying an additional 193,068 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 21.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 849,602 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $822,492,000 after buying an additional 148,948 shares during the period. Finally, Sands Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in ASML by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 669,985 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $716,790,000 after acquiring an additional 140,821 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ASML. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of ASML from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Morningstar lowered ASML to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,970.33.

ASML Trading Down 0.2%

ASML opened at $1,844.45 on Friday. ASML Holding N.V. has a 12 month low of $716.20 and a 12 month high of $1,999.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,781.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,567.15. The firm has a market cap 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 company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, June 28th. The semiconductor company reported $8.65 EPS for the quarter. ASML had a net margin of 30.11% and a return on equity of 52.71%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding N.V. will post 44.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.62%.

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.