ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Down 0.2% – What’s Next?

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) traded down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $659.61 and last traded at $670.48. 1,231,751 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 1,449,758 shares. The stock had previously closed at $671.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on ASML shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of ASML from $1,052.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group cut shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $970.60.

ASML Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $737.53 and its 200-day moving average is $868.72. The company has a market cap of $263.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.10, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.51.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hilltop National Bank increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 975 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $997,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,134 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 444 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial raised its holdings in ASML by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,121 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders raised its holdings in ASML by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,114 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.