ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Bought by Pittenger & Anderson Inc.

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,009 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,456 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $12,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 45 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 220.0% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in ASML by 48.4% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 46 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 35.4% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 7,300.0% during the third quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 74 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ASML Stock Up 2.7 %

ASML stock traded up $23.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $924.80. The company had a trading volume of 561,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,538. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $955.81 and its 200-day moving average is $802.24. ASML Holding has a fifty-two week low of $563.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,056.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $364.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The company had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.34 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.04 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.343 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASML has been the subject of several recent research reports. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of ASML from $1,050.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of ASML from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,036.00.

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.