ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Down 0.6% – What’s Next?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price traded down 0.6% on Friday . The company traded as low as $734.78 and last traded at $738.59. 268,685 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 1,760,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $743.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ASML. DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $937.00.

ASML Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $732.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $758.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $289.95 billion, a PE ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.53.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. Research analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $1.5855 per share. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s payout ratio is 25.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 2,128 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of ASML during the 4th quarter worth $1,174,000. Taurus Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter worth $16,994,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 140,802 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $117,323,000 after acquiring an additional 7,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stockman Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.