ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Down 1.8%

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price dropped 1.8% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $1,074.38 and last traded at $1,078.84. Approximately 360,407 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 1,114,839 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,098.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ASML shares. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,083.00.

ASML Stock Down 3.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $419.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $992.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $925.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The semiconductor company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 27.23%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a $1.343 dividend. This represents a $5.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 32.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ASML. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 245,488 shares in the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,608 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,661 shares during the last quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. grew its position in shares of ASML by 219.0% during the 4th quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 3,158 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,195,000 after buying an additional 2,168 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of ASML by 41.1% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,457 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,355,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in ASML by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.