Abacus Planning Group Inc. Purchases 170 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 65.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 429 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in ASML were worth $357,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of ASML during the 4th quarter worth about $2,719,000. Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter worth approximately $221,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in ASML by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,899 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,471,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in ASML by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,655,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in ASML by 208.6% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,665,000 after buying an additional 1,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML opened at $832.19 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $850.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $930.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $328.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.84. ASML Holding has a 1 year low of $567.57 and a 1 year high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.37 EPS. ASML’s revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently 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. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group downgraded shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,147.80.

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.