ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 0.9% – Here’s Why

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price was up 0.9% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $744.47 and last traded at $742.68. Approximately 466,543 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 1,320,079 shares. The stock had previously closed at $736.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ASML shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. BNP Paribas started coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $955.50.

ASML Stock Down 1.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $286.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.16, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $702.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $801.85.

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, 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. Analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASML. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of ASML by 4,379.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 870,010 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in ASML by 94,079.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,096,410,000 after purchasing an additional 491,096 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in ASML by 37.0% in the third 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. Tairen Capital Ltd lifted its position in ASML by 321.2% in the second quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd now owns 202,946 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $207,559,000 after purchasing an additional 154,760 shares during the period. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in ASML in the third quarter worth $125,952,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by 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.