Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Has $5.49 Million Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,250 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 958 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $5,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ASML. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ASML by 6.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 511 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of ASML by 8.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $953,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ASML by 14.2% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of ASML by 6.4% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 837 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Advisors increased its stake in shares of ASML by 9.5% during the third quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 370 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of ASML stock opened at $901.57 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $957.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $800.90. The company has a market cap of $355.75 billion, a PE ratio of 46.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.49. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $563.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,056.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.54.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.34 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 27.23%. Equities analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.343 per share. This represents a $5.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ASML. HSBC assumed coverage on ASML in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on ASML from $1,050.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on ASML in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on ASML in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded ASML from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,036.00.

ASML Company 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.