ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Gap Down to $976.92

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $976.92, but opened at $942.81. ASML shares last traded at $911.44, with a volume of 1,102,558 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Raymond James lifted their price target on ASML from $850.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on ASML from $830.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on ASML in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,036.00.

ASML Trading Down 6.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $960.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $790.29.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.34 billion. ASML had a net margin of 28.44% and a return on equity of 68.32%. As a group, research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.46 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $1.343 dividend. This represents a $5.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ASML in the fourth quarter worth $307,620,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in ASML by 31,845.9% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 340,543 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $186,073,000 after buying an additional 339,477 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of ASML by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,067,413 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $628,344,000 after buying an additional 274,562 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 48,040.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $186,202,000 after acquiring an additional 245,488 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of ASML by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 981,659 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $536,378,000 after acquiring an additional 211,792 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

About ASML

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.