ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,270,000 shares, an increase of 8.5% from the October 15th total of 1,170,000 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,840,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ASML. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $970.60.

ASML Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $665.23 on Tuesday. ASML has a twelve month low of $648.00 and a twelve month high of $1,110.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $261.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.83, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $755.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $880.41.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 47.61%. As a group, equities analysts predict that ASML will post 20.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $1.407 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. ASML’s payout ratio is 29.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ASML by 7.2% during the third quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in ASML by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,664,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares during the period. Taurus Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in ASML in the third quarter worth $16,994,000. Vantage Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in ASML by 8.5% during the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 34,767 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $28,970,000 after buying an additional 2,736 shares during the period. Finally, KP Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ASML by 66.7% during the second quarter. KP Management LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,114,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by 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.