Lafayette Investments Inc. Buys 110 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Lafayette Investments Inc. raised its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 517 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. KP Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 66.7% during the 2nd quarter. KP Management LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,114,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. increased its position in ASML by 239.8% during the 2nd quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. now owns 93,519 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $95,645,000 after purchasing an additional 66,000 shares during the period. Pictet North America Advisors SA increased its position in ASML by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 5,929 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,940,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 122.1% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 6,415 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,560,000 after buying an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 169.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,661,000 after buying an additional 14,682 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ASML. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upgraded shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $970.60.

ASML Price Performance

ASML stock traded up $5.19 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $713.81. 359,221 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,384,199. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $825.27 and its 200-day moving average is $910.74. ASML Holding has a 12 month low of $581.57 and a 12 month high of $1,110.09. The stock has a market cap of $281.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.19, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.70%.

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.