ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Down 0.4% – Time to Sell?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price traded down 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $715.00 and last traded at $717.91. 251,447 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 1,455,698 shares. The stock had previously closed at $721.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on ASML shares. Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group downgraded ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BNP Paribas started coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $943.83.

ASML Trading Down 0.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $283.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $695.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $834.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a dividend of $1.407 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. ASML’s payout ratio is 29.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Taurus Asset Management LLC bought a new position in ASML in the 3rd quarter worth about $16,994,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of ASML by 5.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 140,802 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,323,000 after acquiring an additional 7,010 shares during the period. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in ASML by 7.2% during the third quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in ASML by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,664,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ASML by 104.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,009 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the period. 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.