Optas LLC Has $739,000 Stock Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Optas LLC raised its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 6.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 723 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Optas LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ASML in the first quarter worth $26,000. WD Rutherford LLC acquired a new stake in ASML in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of ASML during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ASML during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA acquired a new position in shares of ASML during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASML has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upgraded ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,147.80.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of ASML stock traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $907.26. 1,396,044 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,228,076. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $961.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $955.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $357.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.34, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.49. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $563.99 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. ASML had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 26.50%. The company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.3 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $1.8732 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. ASML’s payout ratio is 28.50%.

ASML Company Profile

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.