Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 1,777 Shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 17.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,802 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 1,777 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in ASML were worth $7,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in shares of ASML by 12.3% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 402 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of ASML by 12.7% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 8,407 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $5,571,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of ASML by 1.6% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,478 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of ASML by 2.3% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,418 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $22,806,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the period. Finally, Novo Holdings A S raised its position in shares of ASML by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Novo Holdings A S now owns 165,836 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $114,938,000 after purchasing an additional 32,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company's stock.

ASML Stock Down 8.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML traded down $68.57 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $754.45. 10,771,053 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,755,006. The stock has a market cap of $296.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.73. ASML Holding N.V. has a fifty-two week low of $578.51 and a fifty-two week high of $1,077.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $767.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $726.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The semiconductor company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 51.82% and a net margin of 28.32%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ASML. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on ASML from $840.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on ASML from $1,100.00 to $965.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered ASML from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on ASML in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $806.00 target price on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $923.80.

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.