ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Falls 3.6% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) dropped 3.6% during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $1,478.96 and last traded at $1,496.30. 1,973,258 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 13% from the average daily volume of 1,739,826 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,552.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Monday, September 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of ASML from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,079.12.

ASML Stock Down 3.6%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1,696.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,598.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $576.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.80.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its earnings results on Sunday, September 27th. The semiconductor company reported $14.71 earnings per share for the quarter. ASML had a net margin of 34.10% and a return on equity of 64.24%. The business had revenue of $13.27 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding N.V. will post 46.54 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 27th will be issued a dividend of $2.1077 per share. This represents a $8.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 27th. This is a negative change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.1507. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.55%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASML. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of ASML by 31.7% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,459,420 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,892,869,000 after acquiring an additional 592,125 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in ASML by 4.9% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,282,190 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,550,840,000 after buying an additional 59,888 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in ASML by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,641,565 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,168,227,000 after acquiring an additional 96,860 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in 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 worth $2,060,833,000 after acquiring an additional 19,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,033,583 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,364,963,000 after acquiring an additional 18,768 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Company Profile

ASML Holding N.V. is a Netherlands-based technology company that develops and manufactures advanced lithography systems used by semiconductor manufacturers to produce integrated circuits. Its equipment helps customers transfer intricate circuit patterns onto silicon wafers, a critical step in the production of processors, memory chips and other semiconductor devices.

ASML’s product portfolio includes extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems, which support the production of the most advanced chips, as well as deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography systems for a broad range of semiconductor applications.