Empirical Asset Management LLC Purchases 81,313 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Empirical Asset Management LLC boosted its position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 2,825.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 84,191 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 81,313 shares during the quarter. ASML makes up about 1.7% of Empirical Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Empirical Asset Management LLC's holdings in ASML were worth $58,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASML in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the second quarter worth $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in ASML during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in ASML by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 47 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on ASML. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, ASML currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $955.50.

ASML Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML traded up $2.07 on Friday, hitting $752.35. 1,368,745 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,551,451. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $645.45 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $703.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $801.32. The company has a market cap of $295.99 billion, a PE ratio of 39.43, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.47.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.57 earnings per share for the current year.

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.