ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Down 1.8% – Here’s What Happened

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price traded down 1.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $709.56 and last traded at $713.32. 405,327 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 1,524,909 shares. The stock had previously closed at $726.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. DZ Bank upgraded ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $937.00.

ASML Stock Down 2.3 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $729.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $732.67. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $265.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its stake in ASML by 43.1% in the 4th 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 period. Amundi grew 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 acquiring an additional 328,552 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in ASML by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 807,257 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $559,494,000 after acquiring an additional 281,156 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in ASML in the 4th quarter worth $175,257,000. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in shares of ASML during the 4th quarter valued at about $137,386,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.