Fiduciary Group LLC Purchases 2,745 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Fiduciary Group LLC increased its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 516.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,745 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC's holdings in ASML were worth $2,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 2,128 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,475,000 after buying an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,174,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 140,802 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $117,323,000 after purchasing an additional 7,010 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of ASML by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,322 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $18,243,000 after purchasing an additional 7,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 104.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,009 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $5,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BNP Paribas began coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, DZ Bank raised ASML from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $937.00.

ASML Stock Performance

ASML stock traded down $17.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $716.22. 1,965,756 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,531,293. ASML Holding has a twelve month low of $645.45 and a twelve month high of $1,110.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $281.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $734.36.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $1.5855 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from ASML's previous dividend of $1.08. ASML's payout ratio is 31.35%.

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.