ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Up 0.1% – Should You Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price shot up 0.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $676.54 and last traded at $672.02. 446,898 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 1,411,262 shares. The stock had previously closed at $671.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ASML. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of ASML from $1,052.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $970.60.

ASML Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $766.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $887.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued 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 return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. On average, analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.77 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $1.407 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in ASML during the third quarter worth $25,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV acquired a new position in ASML in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in ASML during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in ASML in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.