Peoples Financial Services CORP. Invests $272,000 in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. acquired a new stake in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 410 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 3,186,667 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,208,615,000 after buying an additional 959,696 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 70,115.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,400,800 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,282,120,000 after buying an additional 1,398,805 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,252,849 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $868,324,000 after buying an additional 33,603 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 962,578 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $667,155,000 after buying an additional 13,115 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 898,544 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $622,769,000 after buying an additional 46,028 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company's stock.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of ASML stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $801.93. 932,245 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,717,004. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $761.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $725.57. ASML Holding N.V. has a 1-year low of $578.51 and a 1-year high of $1,098.74. The firm has a market cap of $315.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.73.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The semiconductor company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.12 by $0.19. ASML had a net margin of 28.32% and a return on equity of 51.82%. The business had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ASML. 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 research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of ASML from $840.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $806.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of ASML from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $923.80.

About ASML

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.