ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Down 0.4% – What’s Next?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shares were down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $707.08 and last traded at $708.98. Approximately 1,215,435 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 1,826,613 shares. The stock had previously closed at $711.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ASML. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 target price on the stock. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $943.83.

ASML Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $279.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.12, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $721.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $857.41.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in ASML by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,654,921,000 after purchasing an additional 31,879 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC increased its holdings in ASML by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,855,624,000 after acquiring an additional 70,776 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in ASML by 37.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,464,061,000 after acquiring an additional 474,653 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 4,379.6% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of ASML by 0.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $836,300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.