ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 2% After Dividend Announcement

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) was up 2% on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $922.04 and last traded at $918.55. Approximately 333,337 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 1,230,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $900.90.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $1.343 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. ASML's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ASML shares. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. HSBC started coverage on ASML in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,050.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of ASML from $850.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,036.00.

ASML Stock Up 1.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $362.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $955.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $802.24.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $7.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.34 billion. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 56.99%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.04 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in ASML by 34.6% in the third 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 during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 48,040.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $186,202,000 after buying an additional 245,488 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in ASML by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 776,768 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $587,951,000 after acquiring an additional 203,860 shares during the period. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new stake in ASML in the fourth quarter worth about $150,318,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 106.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 336,956 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $198,353,000 after purchasing an additional 173,813 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.