ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) traded down 1.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $719.99 and last traded at $722.49. 311,299 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,516,748 shares. The stock had previously closed at $730.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $937.00.

ASML Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $732.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $737.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $287.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.54.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $1.5855 per share. This is an increase from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 3,186,667 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,208,615,000 after acquiring an additional 959,696 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,654,921,000 after acquiring an additional 31,879 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,788,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,239,421,000 after acquiring an additional 31,231 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in ASML by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,252,849 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $868,324,000 after purchasing an additional 33,603 shares during the period. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its position in ASML by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 962,578 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $667,155,000 after purchasing an additional 13,115 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.