ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Down 0.5%

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price dropped 0.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $871.00 and last traded at $887.69. Approximately 378,478 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 1,232,681 shares. The stock had previously closed at $892.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASML has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James raised their target price on ASML from $850.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Kepler Capital Markets raised ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on ASML from $1,050.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,036.00.

ASML Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $356.12 billion, a PE ratio of 45.34, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $956.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $801.54.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.34 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 20.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.343 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASML. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in ASML by 11.5% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,013,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the period. Savoie Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,658,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in ASML by 48,040.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $186,202,000 after acquiring an additional 245,488 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP grew its position in ASML by 69.2% in the third quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 11,529 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,787,000 after acquiring an additional 4,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its stake in shares of ASML by 219.0% during the fourth quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 3,158 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.