The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,726 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 35,481 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company's holdings in ASML were worth $121,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the second quarter worth about $34,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASML Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of ASML traded down $2.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $669.65. 186,249 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,444,976. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $263.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.51. The stock's 50-day moving average is $739.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $870.11. ASML Holding has a 12 month low of $645.45 and a 12 month high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. Research analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. ASML's payout ratio is 29.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ASML. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on ASML from $1,052.00 to $815.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised ASML from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $970.60.

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.