DF Dent & Co. Inc. Acquires 2,302 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,175 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $50,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,654,921,000 after buying an additional 31,879 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC raised its holdings in ASML by 3.3% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,855,624,000 after acquiring an additional 70,776 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in ASML by 37.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,464,061,000 after purchasing an additional 474,653 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in ASML by 4,379.6% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $910,102,000 after purchasing an additional 870,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of ASML by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $836,300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ASML shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group cut shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $943.83.

ASML Price Performance

ASML stock opened at $708.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $278.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.12, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $723.66 and its 200-day moving average is $859.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. ASML Holding has a 12 month low of $645.45 and a 12 month high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. Equities research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.21%.

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.