Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Grows Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,012 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in ASML were worth $13,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 48,040.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $186,202,000 after buying an additional 245,488 shares during the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter worth $150,318,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,146,157 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $867,549,000 after buying an additional 151,844 shares during the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,617,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,224,002,000 after buying an additional 121,847 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 37.9% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 388,291 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $228,571,000 after buying an additional 106,663 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ASML Price Performance

ASML stock traded down $24.81 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $1,027.90. 1,047,213 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 956,468. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $563.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,077.22. The stock has a market cap of $405.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.50, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $947.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $884.14. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The semiconductor company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.54. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. Research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.12 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a $1.343 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ASML. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on ASML from $1,050.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of ASML from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,036.00.

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.