ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Short Interest Up 9.3% in October

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,170,000 shares, a growth of 9.3% from the September 30th total of 1,070,000 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.6 days.

ASML Price Performance

ASML traded down $25.69 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $689.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,905,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,393,116. The business's 50-day moving average price is $808.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $902.68. ASML has a 12 month low of $593.56 and a 12 month high of $1,110.09. The stock has a market cap of $271.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be given a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 29th. ASML's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASML has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group downgraded shares of ASML from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 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 issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $970.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its position in ASML by 2.0% during the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 16,604 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $13,835,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in ASML by 31.0% during the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 524 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Alterna Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in ASML by 8.5% during the third quarter. Alterna Wealth Management Inc. now owns 254 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Rational Advisors LLC increased its position in ASML by 4.9% during the third quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 382 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. increased its position in ASML by 16.2% during the third quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 194 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 27 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.