Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 19,851 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 31.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,968 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,851 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in ASML were worth $58,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Soros Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 21,105 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $14,627,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 692,152 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $479,717,000 after acquiring an additional 46,397 shares during the period. Canal Capital Management LLC grew its position in ASML by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 6,823 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $4,729,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 38,515 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $26,694,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in ASML by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 15,038 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $10,415,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ASML. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of ASML from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on ASML from $860.00 to $840.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on ASML from $1,100.00 to $965.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $906.00.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASML traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $671.93. The company had a trading volume of 420,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,634,385. The firm has a market cap of $264.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.53. ASML Holding has a one year low of $578.51 and a one year high of $1,110.09. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $685.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $704.48.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The semiconductor company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.12 by $0.19. ASML had a return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. The business had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.90 billion. On average, research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be paid a $1.5855 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This is a positive change from ASML's previous dividend of $1.08. ASML's payout ratio is currently 27.48%.

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.