North Star Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)

North Star Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,824 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares during the quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in ASML were worth $22,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ASML. Putney Financial Group LLC lifted its position in ASML by 322.2% in the 1st quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC now owns 38 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in ASML in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in ASML in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in ASML in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in ASML in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company's stock.

ASML Price Performance

ASML traded down $4.89 on Friday, hitting $689.82. 1,621,502 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,771,995. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $763.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $726.77. The firm has a market cap of $271.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.73. ASML Holding N.V. has a one year low of $578.51 and a one year high of $945.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The semiconductor company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.94 by ($1.39). ASML had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 26.95%. The firm had revenue of $8.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.01 EPS. The business's revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be paid a $1.856 dividend. This represents a $7.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. This is a positive change from ASML's previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. ASML's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ASML. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded ASML from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. New Street Research upgraded ASML from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on ASML from $840.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML currently 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.