ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Sold by First Pacific Financial

First Pacific Financial trimmed its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,095 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 26 shares during the quarter. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in ASML were worth $912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Resources Management Corp CT ADV acquired a new stake in ASML in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. WD Rutherford LLC bought a new position in ASML during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the second quarter worth about $31,000. First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in ASML in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in ASML in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ASML Stock Down 16.3 %

ASML traded down $141.84 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $730.43. 9,332,181 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,290,365. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.84. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $573.86 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $846.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $923.22. The stock has a market cap of $288.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.48.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 26.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.37 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.38 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a $1.8732 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This is a boost from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASML has been the topic of a number of research reports. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on ASML from $1,202.00 to $1,207.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley downgraded ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,185.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,071.80.

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.