ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Sold by Saratoga Research & Investment Management

Saratoga Research & Investment Management reduced its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,593 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 18 shares during the quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in ASML were worth $1,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ASML. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 7,329 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,314,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in ASML by 65.4% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,663 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,100,000 after buying an additional 3,424 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in ASML by 4.3% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,010 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,184,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in shares of ASML by 58.9% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,044 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the third quarter valued at $353,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ASML Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of ASML traded down $5.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1,022.73. 837,765 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,027,876. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $964.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $907.83. The company has a market cap of $403.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.49. ASML Holding has a 1-year low of $563.99 and a 1-year high of $1,077.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The semiconductor company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 27.23%. Research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.12 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $1.343 per share. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on ASML in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Three research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,043.00.

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.