Montag & Caldwell LLC Takes $6.93 Million Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,992 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $6,925,000. ASML comprises about 1.5% of Montag & Caldwell LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 5.2% during the third 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 80,290 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $66,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of ASML by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,615 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Resource Group increased its position in ASML by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 1,191 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $992,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ASML. DZ Bank upgraded ASML from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of ASML from $860.00 to $840.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,100.00 to $965.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $906.00.

ASML Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASML traded up $5.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $640.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,439,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,630,852. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $697.51 and a 200-day moving average of $713.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $251.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.67. ASML Holding has a 12 month low of $578.51 and a 12 month high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The semiconductor company reported $6.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.12 by $0.19. ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. The company had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.90 billion. Research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a $1.5855 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. 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.