ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Down 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price traded down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $739.73 and last traded at $745.92. 438,800 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 1,367,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $757.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASML has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas started coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $943.83.

ASML Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $699.90 and a 200 day moving average of $808.96. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $290.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.69, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.47.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s payout ratio is 29.21%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lantz Financial LLC purchased a new stake in ASML in the 2nd quarter valued at $216,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 7,738 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,914,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in ASML by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 5,704 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,833,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC raised its stake in ASML by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,319,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in ASML by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 129,376 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $132,316,000 after acquiring an additional 8,361 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.