Short Interest in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Grows By 30.1%

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 987,700 shares, an increase of 30.1% from the March 31st total of 759,400 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML traded up $18.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $918.97. 865,078 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,204,430. ASML has a fifty-two week low of $563.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,056.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $362.62 billion, a PE ratio of 46.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $955.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $805.93.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. ASML had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 27.23%. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.34 billion. As a group, analysts predict that ASML will post 20.04 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $1.343 dividend. This represents a $5.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. ASML’s payout ratio is 27.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASML has been the subject of several analyst reports. Susquehanna increased their price objective on ASML from $830.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on ASML from $850.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. HSBC assumed coverage on ASML in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on ASML from $1,050.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,036.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in ASML by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,067,413 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $628,344,000 after buying an additional 274,562 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 48,040.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $186,202,000 after purchasing an additional 245,488 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in ASML by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 776,768 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $587,951,000 after purchasing an additional 203,860 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new position in ASML in the 4th quarter worth approximately $150,318,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in ASML by 106.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 336,956 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $198,353,000 after purchasing an additional 173,813 shares in 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.