Meridian Wealth Management LLC Grows Holdings in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $832,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings 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 worth $910,102,000 after acquiring an additional 870,010 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in ASML by 94,079.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,096,410,000 after buying an additional 491,096 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in ASML by 37.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,464,061,000 after acquiring an additional 474,653 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in ASML by 213.5% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 289,944 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $281,382,000 after acquiring an additional 197,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of ASML by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,220,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,184,173,000 after acquiring an additional 194,357 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Performance

ASML stock opened at $672.88 on Friday. ASML Holding has a 1-year low of $645.45 and a 1-year high of $1,110.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.73 billion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $744.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $873.81.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $1.407 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on ASML shares. Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lowered ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average 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.