ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Down 0.3% – Should You Sell?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price traded down 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $724.23 and last traded at $732.58. 311,410 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,518,440 shares. The stock had previously closed at $734.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASML has been the subject of a number of research reports. DZ Bank upgraded ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $937.00.

ASML Trading Down 2.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $281.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $730.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $735.13.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. On average, analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $1.5855 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s payout ratio is 31.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ASML by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 3,186,667 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,208,615,000 after purchasing an additional 959,696 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in ASML by 4,880.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 335,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $247,019,000 after buying an additional 328,552 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in ASML by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 807,257 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $559,494,000 after buying an additional 281,156 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ASML in the 4th quarter worth approximately $175,257,000. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $137,386,000. 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.