ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Down 3.2% – Time to Sell?

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) fell 3.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $669.70 and last traded at $670.52. 891,916 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 1,430,825 shares. The stock had previously closed at $692.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on ASML shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley downgraded ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $970.60.

ASML Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $758.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $883.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $261.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 47.61%. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. On average, research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.77 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 4,379.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $910,102,000 after acquiring an additional 870,010 shares during the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co purchased a new position in shares of ASML during the 1st quarter valued at about $542,710,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in ASML by 94,079.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,096,410,000 after acquiring an additional 491,096 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of ASML by 37.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,464,061,000 after acquiring an additional 474,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 1,657,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,608,921,000 after acquiring an additional 294,784 shares during the last quarter. 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.