Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Sells 43 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. reduced its position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,503 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 43 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $2,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in ASML by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,977,359 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,767,464,000 after purchasing an additional 105,196 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in ASML by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,719,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,668,386,000 after purchasing an additional 572,996 shares during the period. Sands Capital Management LLC increased its position in ASML by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,617,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,224,002,000 after purchasing an additional 121,847 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in ASML by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,247,197 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $944,028,000 after purchasing an additional 32,623 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in ASML by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,173,324 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $888,112,000 after purchasing an additional 24,368 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ASML Stock Performance

ASML traded down $8.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $932.81. 1,053,669 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,172,227. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $368.08 billion, a PE ratio of 47.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1,006.71 and its 200 day moving average is $941.48. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $563.99 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.50% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.37 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.09 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.8732 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 29th. This represents a $7.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ASML shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,147.80.

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.