Foster Group Inc. Buys Shares of 296 ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Foster Group Inc. purchased a new position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 296 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in ASML by 11.5% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,013,000 after buying an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. Savoie Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the third quarter valued at about $14,658,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 48,040.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $186,202,000 after purchasing an additional 245,488 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in ASML by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,608 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,661 shares during the period. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. lifted its stake in ASML by 219.0% during the fourth quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 3,158 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ASML. HSBC began coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,043.00.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML stock opened at $1,050.74 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $952.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $893.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $414.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.66, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.49. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $563.99 and a 52 week high of $1,077.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.54.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The semiconductor company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.54. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.12 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a $1.343 dividend. This represents a $5.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.53%.

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.