ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at BNP Paribas

Analysts at BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock. BNP Paribas’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 20.60% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $943.83.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASML traded up $24.86 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $711.47. 2,325,913 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,861,046. 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 company has a market cap of $279.91 billion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.49. ASML has a twelve month low of $645.45 and a twelve month high of $1,110.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $732.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $864.88.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 1.0% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,654,921,000 after purchasing an additional 31,879 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,855,624,000 after purchasing an additional 70,776 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in ASML by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,464,061,000 after purchasing an additional 474,653 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in ASML by 4,379.6% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $910,102,000 after buying an additional 870,010 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 0.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $836,300,000 after buying an additional 2,085 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.