ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Down 9.3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) fell 9.3% on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $1,355.05 and last traded at $1,356.65. 3,987,362 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 128% from the average daily volume of 1,747,196 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,496.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ASML. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of ASML from $2,400.00 to $2,350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of ASML from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of ASML from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,204.71.

ASML Trading Up 5.0%

The firm has a market cap of $549.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,677.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,599.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, September 27th. The semiconductor company reported $14.71 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $13.27 billion for the quarter. ASML had a return on equity of 64.24% and a net margin of 34.10%. Equities analysts expect that ASML Holding N.V. will post 46.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 27th were paid a dividend of $2.1077 per share. This represents a $8.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 27th. This is a negative change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.1507. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of ASML by 2.1% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,839,202 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,767,040,000 after acquiring an additional 101,588 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in ASML by 31.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,459,420 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,892,869,000 after purchasing an additional 592,125 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in ASML by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,282,190 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,550,840,000 after purchasing an additional 59,888 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,641,565 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,168,227,000 after buying an additional 96,860 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,560,256 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,060,833,000 after buying an additional 19,051 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ASML Company Profile

ASML Holding N.V. is a Netherlands-based technology company that develops and manufactures equipment used to produce semiconductor chips. Its systems are used by chipmakers to create the intricate patterns that form circuits on silicon wafers.

The company’s products include extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography systems, along with metrology and inspection equipment, computational lithography software, and related services. ASML also supports customers with system maintenance, upgrades, and technical assistance.

Founded in 1984 as a joint venture between Philips and ASM International, ASML is headquartered in Veldhoven, the Netherlands.