ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Down 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) fell 0.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $756.25 and last traded at $764.42. Approximately 596,905 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 1,350,834 shares. The stock had previously closed at $768.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $943.83.

ASML Stock Down 0.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $300.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $695.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $813.69.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion during 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 4,379.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $910,102,000 after purchasing an additional 870,010 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 94,079.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of ASML by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,464,061,000 after acquiring an additional 474,653 shares during the last quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 321.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd now owns 202,946 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $207,559,000 after acquiring an additional 154,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in shares of ASML in the 3rd quarter worth $125,952,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.