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

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) were down 0.2% during trading 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. Approximately 1,231,751 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 1,985,718 shares. The stock had previously closed at $671.97.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $961.00.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. American Trust grew its position in ASML by 191.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Trust now owns 1,238 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 89.9% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 7,551 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,291,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in ASML by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 475 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management lifted its holdings in ASML by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 27,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,996,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in ASML in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,438,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASML Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $270.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $732.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $865.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. As a group, analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.