ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading 0.1% Higher – Time to Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) traded up 0.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $719.88 and last traded at $714.90. 274,474 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 1,448,394 shares. The stock had previously closed at $714.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ASML shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley cut ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ASML currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $943.83.

ASML Trading Up 0.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55. The company has a market capitalization of $282.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.62, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $709.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $850.44.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $8.21 billion during 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%. Research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Taurus Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the third quarter worth about $16,994,000. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in ASML by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in ASML by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,664,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 104.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,009 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,840,000 after buying an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 8.5% during the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 34,767 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $28,970,000 after buying an additional 2,736 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.