1,950 ASML Holding N.V. $ASML Shares Sold by BOCHK Asset Management Ltd

Key Points

• BOCHK Asset Management sharply reduced its ASML position, selling 1,950 shares—or 97.5% of its holdings—in the third quarter and retaining just 50 shares valued at approximately $91,000.
• Other major institutional investors, including Van ECK Associates, Arrowstreet Capital, Bank of America, BlackRock and Dimensional Fund Advisors, increased their ASML positions. Institutions collectively own 26.07% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $2,079.12 price target. ASML recently reported $14.71 in quarterly EPS and $13.27 billion in revenue, while reducing its quarterly dividend to $2.1077 per share.

BOCHK Asset Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 97.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 1,950 shares during the quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd's holdings in ASML were worth $91,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in ASML by 31.7% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,459,420 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,892,869,000 after buying an additional 592,125 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in ASML by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,641,565 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,168,227,000 after purchasing an additional 96,860 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in ASML by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,560,256 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,060,833,000 after purchasing an additional 19,051 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in ASML by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,282,190 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,550,840,000 after purchasing an additional 59,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in ASML by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,033,583 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,364,963,000 after purchasing an additional 18,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ASML. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of ASML in a report on Thursday, October 15th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of ASML from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Argus set a $2,100.00 price target on shares of ASML in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $2,100.00 price objective on shares of ASML in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on ASML from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $2,079.12.

ASML Stock Down 2.5%

ASML opened at $1,526.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $588.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,699.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,597.10. ASML Holding N.V. has a twelve month low of $946.11 and a twelve month high of $1,999.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Sunday, September 27th. The semiconductor company reported $14.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. ASML had a net margin of 34.10% and a return on equity of 64.24%. The firm had revenue of $13.27 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that ASML Holding N.V. will post 46.54 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 27th will be given a dividend of $2.1077 per share. This represents a $8.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 27th. This is a negative change from ASML's previous quarterly dividend of $2.1507. ASML's payout ratio is 17.53%.

ASML Company Profile

ASML Holding N.V. is a Netherlands-based technology company that develops and manufactures advanced lithography systems used by semiconductor manufacturers to produce integrated circuits. Its equipment helps customers transfer intricate circuit patterns onto silicon wafers, a critical step in the production of processors, memory chips and other semiconductor devices.

ASML's product portfolio includes extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems, which support the production of the most advanced chips, as well as deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography systems for a broad range of semiconductor applications.

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