Sterling Capital Management LLC Buys 824 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 30.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,523 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 824 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in ASML were worth $2,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Edgewood Management LLC grew its stake in ASML by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 3,186,667 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,208,615,000 after acquiring an additional 959,696 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in ASML by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,788,280 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,239,421,000 after buying an additional 31,231 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,252,849 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $868,324,000 after buying an additional 33,603 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 962,578 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $667,155,000 after acquiring an additional 13,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of ASML by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 807,257 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $559,494,000 after acquiring an additional 281,156 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on 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. DZ Bank upgraded ASML from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $937.00.

ASML Stock Performance

ASML traded up $10.29 on Tuesday, hitting $683.16. The company had a trading volume of 2,095,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,627,989. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company's fifty day moving average price is $704.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $716.86. The stock has a market cap of $268.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.67. ASML Holding has a 1-year low of $578.51 and a 1-year high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. Equities analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $1.5855 per share. The ex-dividend date 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.