First Pacific Financial Sells 28 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

First Pacific Financial reduced its position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,130 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 28 shares during the quarter. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in ASML were worth $855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. FMR LLC increased its holdings in ASML by 3.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,607,702 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,123,710,000 after buying an additional 126,413 shares during the period. Sands Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,495,236 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $880,186,000 after purchasing an additional 105,339 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in ASML by 2.0% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,214,574 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $714,971,000 after purchasing an additional 23,783 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in ASML by 34.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,067,413 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $628,344,000 after purchasing an additional 274,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in ASML by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 981,659 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $536,378,000 after acquiring an additional 211,792 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of ASML from $850.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on ASML from $950.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of ASML from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised ASML from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $962.60.

ASML Price Performance

ASML stock opened at $974.01 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $919.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $750.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $384.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.49. ASML Holding has a 12-month low of $563.99 and a 12-month high of $1,056.34.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. ASML had a return on equity of 68.32% and a net margin of 28.44%. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.34 billion. Equities analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.48 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $1.343 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. ASML’s payout ratio is 24.59%.

About ASML

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.