ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 2.2% After Dividend Announcement

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shares were up 2.2% during trading on Tuesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $892.97 and last traded at $891.38. Approximately 248,463 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 1,238,452 shares. The stock had previously closed at $872.05.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.343 per share. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 27.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ASML. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. 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. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of ASML from $830.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Five 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,036.00.

ASML Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $352.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $956.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $801.54.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The business had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.34 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in ASML by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 45 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in ASML by 220.0% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. WD Rutherford LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of ASML by 48.4% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 46 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.