Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Boosts Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 121.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,262 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in ASML were worth $2,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 104.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,009 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,840,000 after buying an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of ASML by 34.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,108 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,589,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its position in ASML by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in ASML by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 28,785 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. raised its position in ASML by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report 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. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $937.00.

ASML Stock Up 0.1 %

ASML stock opened at $731.11 on Wednesday. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $645.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09. The company has a market capitalization of $287.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $731.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $736.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.53.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its 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 return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. As a group, analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $1.5855 dividend. This is a boost from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. 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.