Country Trust Bank Has $62.75 Million Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Country Trust Bank boosted its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,312 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 12,381 shares during the quarter. ASML makes up approximately 1.5% of Country Trust Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in ASML were worth $62,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ASML. KP Management LLC raised its stake in ASML by 66.7% during the second quarter. KP Management LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,114,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of ASML by 239.8% in the 2nd quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. now owns 93,519 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $95,645,000 after acquiring an additional 66,000 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of ASML by 41.1% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,457 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 122.1% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 6,415 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,560,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of ASML by 169.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,661,000 after purchasing an additional 14,682 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML opened at $824.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $325.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.48. ASML Holding has a 52 week low of $573.86 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $847.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $927.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.52.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. ASML had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 26.50%. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.37 earnings per share. ASML’s revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $1.8732 per share. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,185.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays raised shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ASML has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,110.80.

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.