ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Up 7.1% – Still a Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) rose 7.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $765.60 and last traded at $765.08. Approximately 993,921 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 1,006,528 shares. The stock had previously closed at $714.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ASML shares. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of 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. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASML currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $943.83.

ASML Trading Up 7.4 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $693.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $815.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $301.96 billion, a PE ratio of 40.18, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.47.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 47.61%. The business 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 fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s payout ratio is 29.21%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Resources Management Corp CT ADV purchased a new stake in ASML during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the third quarter worth $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ASML in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in ASML by 46.9% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 47 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in ASML during the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.