ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Up 1.8% – Here’s Why

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price shot up 1.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $679.84 and last traded at $673.03. 687,092 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 1,408,999 shares. The stock had previously closed at $661.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on ASML. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group cut shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays raised shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $970.60.

ASML Stock Down 1.1 %

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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $771.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $889.64. The company has a market cap of $263.38 billion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.51.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 47.61%. On average, analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.76 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASML. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV acquired a new position in ASML during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA acquired a new position in ASML during the second quarter worth about $34,000. 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.