Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Acquires 125 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,169 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 11.5% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,013,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Savoie Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASML in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,658,000. CenterBook Partners LP raised its holdings in ASML by 69.2% during the 3rd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 11,529 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,787,000 after buying an additional 4,716 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al lifted its position in ASML by 552.4% in the second quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 10,634 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,707,000 after buying an additional 9,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in ASML by 6.1% during the third quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 6,880 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,050,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASML Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ASML traded down $2.86 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $971.15. 522,839 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,230,325. ASML Holding has a 12 month low of $563.99 and a 12 month high of $1,056.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $924.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $751.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $383.21 billion, a PE ratio of 45.11, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.49.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The business 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 68.32% and a net margin of 28.44%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.48 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.343 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. ASML’s payout ratio is 24.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ASML shares. Susquehanna upped their target price on ASML from $830.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of ASML from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on ASML from $950.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on ASML in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $962.60.

About ASML

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.