ASML Shares Dip Following Analyst Downgrade

On Friday, shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML – Get Free Report) experienced a slight decline, dropping 0.2% in mid-day trading. This dip followed an announcement from Sanford C. Bernstein, which reduced their price target for the stock from $815.00 down to $767.00. Despite this adjustment, they still hold an outperform rating for the company. During trading, ASML shares hit a low of $659.61, ultimately closing at $670.48. Approximately 1,231,751 shares were traded, marking a significant decline of 38% compared to the average daily volume of 1,985,718 shares. The stock had previously finished at $671.97.

Other analysts have also recently published reports regarding ASML. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target from $1,000.00 to $790.00, maintaining an “overweight” rating in a note issued on October 17th. Meanwhile, Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a “strong-buy” rating on October 2nd. In contrast, Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from an “overweight” to an “equal weight” rating on September 20th, while UBS Group shifted its evaluation from “buy” to “neutral” on September 4th. Additionally, Susquehanna lowered their price target from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and classified the stock with a “positive” rating as of October 11th. Overall, three analysts have assigned a hold rating, nine have suggested buying, and two have given a strong buy rating for ASML. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML holds an average rating of “Moderate Buy” along with a consensus price target of $961.00.

Institutional Activity

ASML has seen notable changes in its institutional investor holdings lately. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV significantly increased its holdings by 4,379.6% in the second quarter, owning 889,875 shares valued at approximately $910,102,000 after acquiring an additional 870,010 shares in that timeframe. Further, International Assets Investment Management LLC expanded their stake by a staggering 94,079.7% in the third quarter, controlling 491,618 shares worth $4,096,410,000 after buying an additional 491,096 shares. Meanwhile, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position by 37.0%, bringing its total ownership to 1,757,049 shares valued at $1,464,061,000 after acquiring an additional 474,653 shares. Tairen Capital Ltd also increased its stake by 321.2% in the second quarter and owns 202,946 shares worth $207,559,000 after an additional purchase. Additionally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd entered the scene with a new stake valued at approximately $125,952,000. Collectively, institutional investors own about 26.07% of ASML stock.

Company Stock Performance

ASML is currently performing with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84, and a current ratio of 1.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price stands at $732.20, while the two-hundred day moving average price is at $865.74. With a market capitalization of $270.13 billion, ASML has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 35.95 and a price-to-earnings-growth (PEG) ratio of 1.95, alongside a beta of 1.51.

ASML recently reported its quarterly earnings results on October 15th, posting earnings of $5.80 per share, which exceeded analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. The firm's revenue reached $8.21 billion, surpassing expectations of $7.66 billion. ASML has a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. Analysts anticipate ASML will achieve an average of 20.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dividend Information

The company declared a recent quarterly dividend, which was paid on November 7th. Investors on record as of October 29th received a dividend of $1.407 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $5.63 at a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was also October 29th, with a payout ratio currently at 29.21%.

Company Overview

ASML Holding N.V. specializes in developing, producing, marketing, selling, and servicing advanced semiconductor equipment systems for various chipmakers. Their offerings include advanced lithography systems, metrology, and inspection systems, along with extreme ultraviolet lithography and deep ultraviolet lithography solutions for producing a wide range of semiconductor nodes and technologies.

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