Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 28.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,013 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,618 shares during the quarter. ASML comprises approximately 1.0% of Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in ASML were worth $17,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in ASML in the third quarter worth $25,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV purchased a new position in shares of ASML in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASML during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in ASML in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ASML Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $672.88 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. ASML Holding has a twelve month low of $645.45 and a twelve month high of $1,110.09. The stock has a market cap of $264.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $744.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $873.54.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 47.61%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ASML. UBS Group downgraded shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on ASML from $1,052.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $970.60.

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.