Investment Partners LTD. Purchases 986 Shares of ASML Holding N.V. $ASML

Key Points

• Investment Partners LTD. nearly doubled its ASML position in the third quarter, purchasing 986 additional shares to hold 1,999 shares valued at approximately $3.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 26.07% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with ASML carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $2,079.12, despite JPMorgan lowering its target to $2,350.
• ASML shares opened at $1,565.90, down 6.6%, amid semiconductor-demand and valuation concerns. The company also reduced its quarterly dividend to $2.1077, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 0.5%.

Investment Partners LTD. grew its position in shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 97.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,999 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the quarter. Investment Partners LTD.'s holdings in ASML were worth $3,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in ASML by 31.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,459,420 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $4,892,869,000 after purchasing an additional 592,125 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of ASML by 223.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 287,225 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $379,368,000 after buying an additional 198,505 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in ASML by 498.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 156,791 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $311,926,000 after acquiring an additional 130,573 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in ASML by 6.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,641,565 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,168,227,000 after acquiring an additional 96,860 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in ASML by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 339,642 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $448,610,000 after acquiring an additional 69,668 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company's stock.

ASML News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting ASML this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ASML remains a critical bottleneck in advanced-chip manufacturing. It is the only supplier of extreme-ultraviolet lithography systems, which are essential for leading-edge semiconductor production. That strategic position gives the company significant pricing power and exposure to long-term artificial-intelligence infrastructure investment. How ASML Gives the Netherlands a Strategic Advantage in Global AI
• Positive Sentiment: An analysis of Elon Musk’s increasingly vertically integrated businesses argues that ASML has “passed the Elon Test”: even Musk’s chip initiatives still depend on foundries such as TSMC, which in turn require ASML’s lithography technology. This reinforces the company’s long-term moat, although the article is promotional in nature. The Companies Elon Musk Tried to Kill and Couldn’t Are Your Biggest Opportunities
• Neutral Sentiment: Options-market activity has drawn attention to the possibility of a significant ASML move, but options positioning signals volatility rather than a definite fundamental direction. Is the Options Market Predicting a Spike in ASML Holding Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Intel’s roughly 25% selloff following weak fourth-quarter guidance, margin pressure, and a PC-market downturn raised concerns about broader semiconductor demand and potential delays or caution among chipmakers’ capital-spending plans. Although Intel reported progress in its 18A process, the sector read-through was negative for equipment suppliers. Silicon Shock: Intel's 25% Valuation Reset
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns may also be weighing on ASML. Compared with Nvidia, ASML generates less revenue and has lower reported pretax margins, prompting investors to question how much AI upside is already reflected in its shares. ASML vs. Nvidia: Who Really Captures the AI Chip Boom?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ASML. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of ASML from $2,400.00 to $2,350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of ASML in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of ASML from $1,971.00 to $2,623.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $2,079.12.

ASML Trading Down 6.6%

Shares of ASML stock opened at $1,565.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.49. The stock's fifty day moving average is $1,704.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,595.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $603.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.55, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.77. ASML Holding N.V. has a fifty-two week low of $946.11 and a fifty-two week high of $1,999.96.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 27th will be issued a $2.1077 dividend. This is a decrease from ASML's previous quarterly dividend of $2.1507. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 27th. This represents a $8.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. ASML's payout ratio is presently 17.55%.

ASML 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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