ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Down 0.1% - What's Next?

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ASML. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of ASML from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays raised shares of ASML from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $970.60.

ASML Stock Performance

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 50 day moving average of $747.79 and a 200 day moving average of $875.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.51.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.66 billion. Equities analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. ASML's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position 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 worth $910,102,000 after purchasing an additional 870,010 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in ASML by 94,079.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,096,410,000 after acquiring an additional 491,096 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of ASML by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,464,061,000 after purchasing an additional 474,653 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 213.5% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 289,944 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $281,382,000 after purchasing an additional 197,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,220,210 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,184,173,000 after purchasing an additional 194,357 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.

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