ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Falls 1.3% – Here’s Why

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) shares traded down 1.3% on Thursday. The company traded as low as $1,700.88 and last traded at $1,722.50. Approximately 1,260,427 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 1,774,859 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,744.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of ASML from $1,971.00 to $2,623.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on ASML from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morningstar lowered ASML to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on ASML from $1,700.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered ASML from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,970.33.

ASML Stock Down 1.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $677.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,718.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,623.91.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Sunday, June 28th. The semiconductor company reported $8.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $10.62 billion for the quarter. ASML had a return on equity of 52.71% and a net margin of 30.11%. On average, research analysts forecast that ASML Holding N.V. will post 44.03 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th were paid a dividend of $2.1507 per share. This is a decrease from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.1771. This represents a $8.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ASML by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,167 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $52,057,000 after purchasing an additional 2,913 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in ASML by 18.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,337 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,628,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in ASML by 6.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 440,721 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $876,783,000 after buying an additional 27,021 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in ASML by 4.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 85,872 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $170,851,000 after buying an additional 3,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twin Peaks Capital Ltd bought a new position in ASML in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,968,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About ASML

ASML Holding N.V. is a Netherlands-based technology company that develops and manufactures lithography systems used by semiconductor manufacturers to produce integrated circuits. Its equipment uses light to project intricate circuit patterns onto silicon wafers, an essential step in the production of chips for computers, smartphones, automobiles, data centers and other electronic devices.

The company’s product portfolio includes extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems, deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography systems and advanced metrology and inspection technologies.