Rakuten Securities Inc. Buys 126 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 389 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ASML. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 7.5% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,664,000 after buying an additional 3,321 shares during the period. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 7.2% in the third quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,800,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares during the period. KP Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 66.7% in the second quarter. KP Management LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,114,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Harvard Management Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 239.8% in the second quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. now owns 93,519 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $95,645,000 after buying an additional 66,000 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the third quarter worth approximately $1,372,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML stock opened at $671.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $264.11 billion, a PE ratio of 35.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $766.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $887.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. ASML Holding has a 52-week low of $648.27 and a 52-week high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. On average, equities analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.77 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on ASML shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Susquehanna cut their price target on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on ASML from $1,052.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $970.60.

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.