ASML Holding N.V. $ASML Shares Sold by Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. cut its position in shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,863 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 93 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $2,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in ASML by 153.8% in the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of ASML during the first quarter worth $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ASML during the second quarter worth $30,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of ASML by 129.4% in the second quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Bank Degroof downgraded shares of ASML to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Arete Research upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,076.33.

ASML Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $1,003.22 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,005.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $845.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. ASML Holding N.V. has a twelve month low of $578.51 and a twelve month high of $1,086.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $394.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.83, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.88.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $6.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $8.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.74% and a net margin of 27.08%.The firm’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $1.857 per share. This is a boost from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 29th. This represents a $7.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.76%.

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.