ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Up 2% Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shot up 2% during mid-day trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $922.04 and last traded at $918.55. 333,337 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 1,230,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $900.90.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $1.343 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASML has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of ASML from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on ASML in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,036.00.

ASML Stock Up 1.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $362.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50-day moving average is $955.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $804.52.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.34 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 27.23%. Equities analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.04 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ASML by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,977,359 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,767,464,000 after acquiring an additional 105,196 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 3.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,607,702 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,123,710,000 after purchasing an additional 126,413 shares during the period. Sands Capital Management LLC increased its position in ASML by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,617,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,224,002,000 after purchasing an additional 121,847 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in ASML by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,247,197 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $944,028,000 after purchasing an additional 32,623 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in ASML by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,173,324 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $888,112,000 after purchasing an additional 24,368 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.