ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Down 0.4% – Here’s What Happened

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price dropped 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $715.00 and last traded at $717.91. Approximately 251,447 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 1,455,698 shares. The stock had previously closed at $721.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ASML. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley cut ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group cut ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $943.83.

ASML Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $283.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $694.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $837.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. ASML’s payout ratio is 29.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,654,921,000 after buying an additional 31,879 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC grew its position in ASML by 3.3% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,855,624,000 after acquiring an additional 70,776 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in ASML by 37.0% during 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 last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake 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 valued at $910,102,000 after purchasing an additional 870,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $836,300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is currently 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.