ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Down 1.8% – Here’s Why

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price traded down 1.8% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $737.00 and last traded at $743.98. 1,183,989 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 22% from the average session volume of 1,523,028 shares. The stock had previously closed at $757.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASML has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $943.83.

ASML Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $292.70 billion, a PE ratio of 38.95, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $697.18 and its 200-day moving average is $811.25.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASML. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in ASML by 4,379.6% during 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 94,079.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,096,410,000 after buying an additional 491,096 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in ASML by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,464,061,000 after buying an additional 474,653 shares in the last quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd raised its position in ASML by 321.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd now owns 202,946 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $207,559,000 after buying an additional 154,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at about $125,952,000. 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.