ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Down 0.2% Following Analyst Downgrade

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price traded down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday after Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on the stock from $815.00 to $767.00. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the stock. ASML traded as low as $659.61 and last traded at $670.48. 1,231,751 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 1,985,718 shares. The stock had previously closed at $671.97.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lowered ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $961.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Taurus Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at about $16,994,000. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of ASML by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of ASML by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,664,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of ASML by 104.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,009 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the period. Finally, Vantage Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of ASML by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 34,767 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $28,970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Trading Down 0.2 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $734.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $867.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a dividend of $1.407 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.21%.

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.