ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Down 0.5%

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) dropped 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $871.00 and last traded at $887.69. Approximately 378,478 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 1,232,681 shares. The stock had previously closed at $892.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on ASML shares. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of ASML from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James raised their price target 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. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on ASML from $830.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,036.00.

ASML Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company has a market capitalization of $356.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $956.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $801.54.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.34 billion. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 56.99%. Sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.04 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.343 per share. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.02%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in ASML by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,977,359 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,767,464,000 after buying an additional 105,196 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in ASML by 3.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,607,702 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,123,710,000 after purchasing an additional 126,413 shares in the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,617,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,224,002,000 after purchasing an additional 121,847 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in ASML by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,247,197 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $944,028,000 after purchasing an additional 32,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of ASML by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,173,324 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $888,112,000 after purchasing an additional 24,368 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.