ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Up 0.7% – Should You Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price was up 0.7% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $717.27 and last traded at $710.30. Approximately 376,580 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 1,456,878 shares. The stock had previously closed at $705.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $943.83.

ASML Trading Down 0.2 %

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 cap of $283.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $694.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $835.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. Research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current 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 issued a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV acquired a new position in shares of ASML during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ASML in the second quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Private Ocean LLC increased its position in ASML by 58.3% during the second quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 38 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is currently 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.