ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 646,600 shares, a drop of 61.0% from the August 15th total of 1,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,440,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.4 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASML. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of ASML by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,457 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,355,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of ASML by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of ASML by 169.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,661,000 after purchasing an additional 14,682 shares during the last quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. purchased a new position in ASML in the 4th quarter valued at about $761,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its stake in ASML by 25,520.0% during the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 1,281 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,243,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upgraded ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group cut shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,147.80.

ASML Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASML opened at $810.01 on Friday. ASML has a fifty-two week low of $563.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,110.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $319.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.87, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $903.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $946.34.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 26.50%. ASML’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that ASML will post 20.38 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a $1.8732 dividend. This is a boost from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 28.55%.

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.