ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, an increase of 7.2% from the November 30th total of 1,390,000 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,000,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days.

ASML Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $693.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $272.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55. ASML has a fifty-two week low of $645.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $694.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $822.28.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $1.407 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ASML shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of 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. UBS Group cut shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $943.83.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in ASML by 4,379.6% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $910,102,000 after purchasing an additional 870,010 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in ASML by 94,079.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,096,410,000 after purchasing an additional 491,096 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in ASML by 37.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,464,061,000 after purchasing an additional 474,653 shares in the last quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in ASML by 321.2% during the second quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd now owns 202,946 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $207,559,000 after purchasing an additional 154,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in ASML during the third quarter valued at approximately $125,952,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by 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.