Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Purchases 133 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 29.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 585 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank grew its holdings in ASML by 227.3% during the 4th quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC grew its holdings in ASML by 740.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASML has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DZ Bank raised ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $937.00.

ASML Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of ASML opened at $716.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $281.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $734.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99. ASML Holding has a 1 year low of $645.45 and a 1 year high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. On average, analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $1.5855 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

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.