ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Up 0.5% – Still a Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shares rose 0.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $724.94 and last traded at $721.45. Approximately 397,736 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 1,450,496 shares. The stock had previously closed at $718.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASML has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna reduced their target price on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas started coverage on ASML in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley cut ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $943.83.

ASML Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $283.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $728.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $861.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 47.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 29.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of ASML by 19.7% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 237 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in ASML by 108.2% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in ASML by 3.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in ASML by 19.4% during the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 283 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC acquired a new stake in ASML during the second quarter valued at $216,000. Hedge funds and other 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.