ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading 2% Higher Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) traded up 2% during trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $922.04 and last traded at $918.55. 333,337 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.343 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASML has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of ASML from $850.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. HSBC began coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of ASML from $830.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of ASML from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Four 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,036.00.

ASML Stock Up 2.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $362.62 billion, a PE ratio of 46.93, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $955.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $805.93.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.34 billion. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 56.99%. On average, analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted 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 buying 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 acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. WD Rutherford LLC purchased a new position in ASML during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in ASML by 48.4% during 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.

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.