Rakuten Securities Inc. Increases Stock Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 95.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,513 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 739 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.'s holdings in ASML were worth $1,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC increased its stake in ASML by 740.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ASML by 96.7% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 59 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in ASML in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in ASML during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASML has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $806.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on ASML from $860.00 to $840.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on ASML from $1,100.00 to $965.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $913.80.

ASML Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ ASML traded down $15.37 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $759.86. 1,419,922 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,682,556. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $713.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $715.79. ASML Holding has a 12-month low of $578.51 and a 12-month high of $1,110.09. The firm has a market cap of $298.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.53, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The semiconductor company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.12 by $0.19. ASML had a return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. The company had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

ASML Company 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.