Easterly Investment Partners LLC Purchases New Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,004 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of ASML by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,472 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $41,223,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp purchased a new position in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter worth $274,000. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd bought a new position in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,250,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in ASML by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,542 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,951,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of ASML in the third quarter worth $43,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASML has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DZ Bank upgraded ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report 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. lowered their target price on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $937.00.

ASML Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of ASML stock opened at $690.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $271.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. ASML Holding has a 12-month low of $645.45 and a 12-month high of $1,110.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $729.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $732.67.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. On average, research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $1.5855 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

ASML 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.