Short Interest in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Drops By 14.5%

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) saw a significant decrease in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,480,000 shares, a decrease of 14.5% from the December 31st total of 1,730,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in ASML by 1.0% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,654,921,000 after purchasing an additional 31,879 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in ASML by 3.3% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,855,624,000 after purchasing an additional 70,776 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in ASML by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,788,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,239,421,000 after purchasing an additional 31,231 shares during the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC increased its position in shares of ASML by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 664,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $553,361,000 after purchasing an additional 25,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 94,079.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,096,410,000 after buying an additional 491,096 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Price Performance

ASML stock traded down $5.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $733.83. 1,182,464 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,035,101. ASML has a 52-week low of $645.45 and a 52-week high of $1,110.09. The company has a market capitalization of $288.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $719.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $772.37.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. As a group, analysts anticipate that ASML will post 25.31 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $1.6414 per share. This represents a $6.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. ASML’s payout ratio is 26.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ASML. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. DZ Bank raised ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $937.00.

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.