Centaurus Financial Inc. Buys 605 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 59.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,629 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $1,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in ASML by 4,379.6% during 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 buying an additional 870,010 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in ASML by 50.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,719,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,668,386,000 after buying an additional 572,996 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the 1st quarter worth approximately $542,710,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in ASML by 21.6% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 1,657,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,608,921,000 after buying an additional 294,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in ASML by 11,084.1% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 246,050 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $238,784,000 after acquiring an additional 243,850 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ASML shares. UBS Group lowered ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,185.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Four research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,110.80.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of ASML stock opened at $832.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $328.46 billion, a PE ratio of 42.51, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $850.05 and a 200 day moving average of $930.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. ASML Holding has a 12 month low of $573.86 and a 12 month high of $1,110.09.

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

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a $1.8732 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This is an increase from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. ASML’s payout ratio is 28.50%.

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.