American Century Companies Inc. Sells 824 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,574 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 824 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $43,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ASML. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 70.1% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 7,670 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,316,000 after purchasing an additional 3,160 shares in the last quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in ASML by 105.9% during the fourth quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. now owns 875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 13,551 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,392,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496 shares in the last quarter. Viawealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter worth about $463,000. Finally, Talos Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of ASML during the 4th quarter valued at about $21,971,000. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASML has been the subject of a number of research reports. DZ Bank raised ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $937.00.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASML opened at $690.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $729.10 and a 200-day moving average of $732.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $271.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.20, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $645.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $1.5855 per share. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is 31.35%.

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.