Ninety One UK Ltd Sells 7,482 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Ninety One UK Ltd decreased its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,174 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 7,482 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings in ASML were worth $16,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in ASML by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 229,923 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $153,573,000 after acquiring an additional 29,290 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in ASML by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,391 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,230,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in ASML by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,266 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. bought a new position in shares of ASML during the 1st quarter worth approximately $264,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of ASML by 35.2% during the 1st quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 426 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ASML. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of ASML from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of ASML from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,036.00.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML traded down $29.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $859.54. The company had a trading volume of 2,485,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,249,986. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $339.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.90, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.48. The company's 50-day moving average price is $958.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $793.71. ASML Holding has a one year low of $563.99 and a one year high of $1,056.34.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.34 billion. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 59.10%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.343 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. ASML's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.02%.

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.