Raymond James & Associates Grows Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 205,880 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 14,090 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.05% of ASML worth $199,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ASML. First PREMIER Bank boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 273 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 898 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $871,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 126 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Slow Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 4,407 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,336,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company's stock.

ASML Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:ASML traded up $18.32 on Friday, hitting $918.97. 865,078 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,204,430. The stock has a market capitalization of $362.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.48. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $563.99 and a 52 week high of $1,056.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company's 50-day moving average price is $955.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $805.93.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. ASML had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 27.23%. The company had revenue of $7.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.34 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.04 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.343 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. ASML's payout ratio is 27.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ASML shares. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. HSBC initiated coverage on ASML in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Kepler Capital Markets raised ASML from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on ASML from $1,050.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on ASML from $830.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,036.00.

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.