Vontobel Holding Ltd. Grows Stake in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 48.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,971 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,935 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in ASML were worth $5,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Edgewood Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ASML by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 3,186,667 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,208,615,000 after acquiring an additional 959,696 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 70,115.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,400,800 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $9,282,120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,398,805 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised 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 worth $868,324,000 after purchasing an additional 33,603 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 962,578 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $667,155,000 after purchasing an additional 13,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in ASML by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 898,544 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $622,769,000 after buying an additional 46,028 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ASML. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of ASML from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of ASML from $1,100.00 to $965.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of ASML from $860.00 to $840.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $913.80.

ASML Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ ASML traded down $5.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $794.20. The company had a trading volume of 910,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,707,147. The company's fifty day moving average is $749.55 and its 200-day moving average is $722.72. ASML Holding N.V. has a one year low of $578.51 and a one year high of $1,110.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $312.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.73.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The semiconductor company reported $6.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.12 by $0.19. ASML had a return on equity of 51.82% and a net margin of 28.32%. The business had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current year.

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.