Short Interest in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Grows By 11.8%

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) saw a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,420,000 shares, a growth of 11.8% from the October 31st total of 1,270,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

ASML Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASML opened at $686.61 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $270.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $732.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $864.88. ASML has a fifty-two week low of $645.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 47.61%. Sell-side analysts predict that ASML will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid 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 0.82%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is 29.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on ASML shares. Morgan Stanley cut shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna cut their price target on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group cut ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $961.00.

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.