ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Down 1.1% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• ASML's share price decreased by 1.1% to $747.18 on Thursday, with a significant drop in trading volume, suggesting potential investor caution.
• Equities analysts show mixed opinions on ASML, with seven hold ratings and six buy ratings, while the average target price stands at $923.80, indicating expectations for future growth.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.856 per share, with a current dividend yield of 1.0%, highlighting its commitment to return capital to shareholders.

Shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) were down 1.1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $744.56 and last traded at $747.18. Approximately 404,115 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 1,741,618 shares. The stock had previously closed at $755.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ASML shares. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. DZ Bank lowered shares of ASML from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of ASML in a report on Monday, May 19th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of ASML from $840.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $923.80.

ASML Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $291.98 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $757.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $725.48.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The semiconductor company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.94 by ($1.39). The company had revenue of $8.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.72 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 49.47%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $1.856 per share. This is an increase from ASML's previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. This represents a $7.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. ASML's payout ratio is presently 26.21%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 6.3% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,244,254 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,401,304,000 after acquiring an additional 250,934 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 70,115.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,400,800 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,282,120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398,805 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in ASML by 26.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 952,385 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $631,079,000 after acquiring an additional 199,740 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in ASML by 0.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 905,708 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $600,175,000 after acquiring an additional 7,164 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in ASML by 5.2% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 763,590 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $611,933,000 after acquiring an additional 37,994 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.