ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Short Interest Update

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,420,000 shares, a growth of 11.8% from the October 31st total of 1,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on ASML shares. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Susquehanna cut 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 report on Friday, October 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $961.00.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hilltop National Bank grew its position in shares of ASML by 1.0% in the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 975 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in ASML by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,134 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in ASML by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 444 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial boosted its position in shares of ASML by 1.1% in the second quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,121 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders grew its stake in shares of ASML by 0.6% in the second quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,114 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Trading Up 3.6 %

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $711.47 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $732.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $864.88. ASML has a fifty-two week low of $645.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $279.91 billion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.51.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Sell-side analysts expect that ASML will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.21%.

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.