ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Short Interest Update

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, a growth of 7.2% from the November 30th total of 1,390,000 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley downgraded ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $943.83.

ASML Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ ASML opened at $696.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $273.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $694.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $825.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. ASML has a 52-week low of $645.45 and a 52-week high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. Equities analysts predict that ASML will post 20.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Taurus Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,994,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 7,010 shares during the period. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in ASML by 7.2% during the third quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in ASML by 7.5% during the third 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 during the period. 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 last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.