Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC Increases Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 10,636.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,865 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,829 shares during the quarter. Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC's holdings in ASML were worth $2,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 227.3% during the 4th quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of ASML by 740.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of ASML during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its position in shares of ASML by 133.3% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 56 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in ASML in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ASML shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of ASML from $860.00 to $840.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of ASML from $1,100.00 to $965.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded ASML from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $906.00.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML stock traded up $2.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $677.27. 1,280,834 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,641,265. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $687.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $706.55. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $266.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a PEG 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The semiconductor company reported $6.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.90 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. Equities research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.5855 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This is a boost from ASML's previous dividend of $1.08. ASML's payout ratio is currently 27.48%.

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.