ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Down 0.1% – What’s Next?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) dropped 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $666.22 and last traded at $671.49. Approximately 300,194 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 1,446,277 shares. The stock had previously closed at $672.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASML has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley downgraded ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Susquehanna dropped 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 report on Friday, October 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $970.60.

ASML Trading Up 0.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $264.72 billion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $747.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $875.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend 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%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Taurus Asset Management LLC bought a new position in ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $16,994,000. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in ASML by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in ASML by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,664,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in ASML by 104.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,009 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vantage Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of ASML by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 34,767 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $28,970,000 after acquiring an additional 2,736 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.