Stevens Capital Management LP Invests $2.22 Million in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)

Key Points

• Stevens Capital Management LP has acquired a position in ASML Holding N.V., purchasing 3,344 shares valued at approximately $2.22 million.
• ASML has recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.856 per share, boosting the annualized dividend to $7.42, reflecting a yield of 1.02%.
• Despite reporting a miss in quarterly earnings per share at $4.55, ASML's revenue grew by 23.2% year-over-year.

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,344 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $2,216,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 43.1% in 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 70,115.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in ASML by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,252,849 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $868,324,000 after acquiring an additional 33,603 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its position in ASML by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 962,578 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $667,155,000 after acquiring an additional 13,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in ASML by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 898,544 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $622,769,000 after acquiring an additional 46,028 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ASML. DZ Bank downgraded ASML from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of ASML from $840.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $806.00 price target on the stock. Finally, New Street Research raised ASML from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Seven 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $923.80.

ASML Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASML traded down $13.83 on Friday, reaching $711.25. 2,309,141 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,229,190. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.82 billion, a PE ratio of 29.68, a PEG ratio of 1.47 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's 50-day simple moving average is $765.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $727.39. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The semiconductor company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.94 by ($1.39). The firm had revenue of $8.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.72 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 49.47%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.01 earnings per share. Analysts expect that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be given a dividend of $1.856 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $7.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. This is a boost from ASML's previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. ASML's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.67%.

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.