ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 1.6% – Still a Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price rose 1.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $769.50 and last traded at $768.48. Approximately 478,187 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 1,793,298 shares. The stock had previously closed at $756.17.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASML has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $937.00.

ASML Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $729.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $763.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $295.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.13, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.47.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. As a group, analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.5855 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is 26.83%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edgewood Management LLC increased its stake in ASML by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 3,186,667 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,208,615,000 after acquiring an additional 959,696 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of ASML by 4,880.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 335,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $247,019,000 after purchasing an additional 328,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 807,257 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $559,494,000 after buying an additional 281,156 shares during the last quarter. 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.