ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading 2% Higher Following Dividend Announcement

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shares traded up 2% on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $922.04 and last traded at $918.55. 333,337 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 1,230,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $900.90.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $1.343 dividend. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ASML shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of ASML from $850.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of ASML from $1,050.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. HSBC started coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Redburn Atlantic raised ASML from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on ASML in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ASML has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,036.00.

ASML Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $955.81 and a 200-day moving average of $802.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $363.30 billion, a PE ratio of 46.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.48.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The company had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.34 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of ASML by 34.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,067,413 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $628,344,000 after acquiring an additional 274,562 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in ASML by 48,040.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $186,202,000 after purchasing an additional 245,488 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in ASML by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 776,768 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $587,951,000 after purchasing an additional 203,860 shares during the period. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in ASML in the 4th quarter valued at about $150,318,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 106.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 336,956 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $198,353,000 after buying an additional 173,813 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is 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.