ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Down 1.4% – Time to Sell?

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) traded down 1.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $1,026.44 and last traded at $1,029.20. 1,067,561 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 1,686,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,043.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised ASML from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Rothschild Redb raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,076.33.

ASML Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $399.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $952.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $815.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $6.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.74% and a net margin of 27.08%.The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.28 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 29th were given a $1.857 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 29th. This represents a $7.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. ASML’s payout ratio is 25.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ASML by 6.3% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,244,254 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,401,304,000 after purchasing an additional 250,934 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in ASML by 24.9% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,933,748 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,861,445,000 after purchasing an additional 385,502 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in ASML by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 952,385 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $631,079,000 after buying an additional 199,740 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 0.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 905,708 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $600,175,000 after acquiring an additional 7,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of ASML by 5.2% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 763,590 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $611,933,000 after acquiring an additional 37,994 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.