Factory Mutual Insurance Co. Grows Stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. grew its stake in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 11.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,921 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,254 shares during the quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in ASML were worth $49,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new position in ASML in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV acquired a new stake in ASML during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. WD Rutherford LLC purchased a new stake in ASML during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in ASML in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in ASML in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASML traded up $6.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $840.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 964,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,247,158. The firm has a market cap of $330.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.48. ASML Holding has a 1-year low of $573.86 and a 1-year high of $1,110.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $844.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $924.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.52.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 26.50%. ASML’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.37 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $1.8732 dividend. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. This is a boost from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ASML. Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley downgraded ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays upgraded ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group lowered shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,071.80.

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.