ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Down 0.2% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) traded down 0.2% on Friday after Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on the stock from $815.00 to $767.00. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the stock. ASML traded as low as $659.61 and last traded at $670.48. 1,231,751 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 1,985,718 shares. The stock had previously closed at $671.97.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 note on Thursday, October 17th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $961.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Hilltop National Bank raised its holdings in ASML by 1.0% during the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 975 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.1% in the second quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,134 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,159,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of ASML by 2.8% in the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 444 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Financial raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.1% during 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 lifted its position in shares of ASML by 0.6% in the 2nd 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 own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Up 2.4 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $732.20 and its 200 day moving average is $865.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $270.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.51.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. Equities analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

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.