ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Down 1.9%

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) fell 1.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $811.90 and last traded at $817.22. 298,079 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 1,255,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $833.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ASML. Morgan Stanley cut shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of 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 price target on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,147.80.

ASML Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $326.05 billion, a PE ratio of 41.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $853.67 and its 200-day moving average is $932.49.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.50% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.38 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $1.8732 per share. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.50%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in ASML by 59.1% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,629 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,666,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in ASML by 20.9% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in ASML by 278.7% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 21,106 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,586,000 after purchasing an additional 15,532 shares in the last quarter. KP Management LLC boosted its holdings in ASML by 66.7% in the second quarter. KP Management LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazari Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in ASML in the second quarter valued at approximately $497,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.