Short Interest in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Grows By 7.2%

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

ASML Price Performance

ASML traded down $3.07 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $693.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 961,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,449,344. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $272.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $694.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $822.28. ASML has a twelve month low of $645.45 and a twelve month high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ASML will post 20.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s payout ratio is 29.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASML has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group cut ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $943.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lantz Financial LLC purchased a new position in ASML in the 2nd quarter valued at $216,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 358.1% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,320 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,418,000 after buying an additional 3,377 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in ASML by 53.2% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 360 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in ASML during the 2nd quarter valued at about $283,000. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in ASML by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.