Baird Financial Group Inc. Buys 22,668 Shares of ASML Holding N.V. $ASML

Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) by 16.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 157,808 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,668 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $126,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capstone Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in ASML by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Capstone Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,664,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of ASML by 11.5% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 7,937 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,259,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of ASML by 26.2% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 10,016 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,637,000 after acquiring an additional 2,079 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new position in ASML during the first quarter worth about $489,000. Finally, Plan Group Financial LLC bought a new position in ASML during the first quarter worth about $265,000. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of ASML opened at $1,140.92 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,022.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $858.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.70. ASML Holding N.V. has a one year low of $578.51 and a one year high of $1,141.72. The company has a market cap of $448.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.87.

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

ASML Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on ASML shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Friday, October 10th. Mizuho upgraded ASML from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Rothschild Redb upgraded ASML from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Barclays reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,171.83.

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.