Analysts Set ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) Target Price at $1,051.60

Shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,051.60.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Monday, October 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,105.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Morningstar lowered shares of ASML to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, September 30th.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML stock opened at $1,054.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market cap of $414.79 billion, a PE ratio of 42.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.87. ASML has a 1 year low of $578.51 and a 1 year high of $1,086.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $930.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $807.27.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $6.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.14. ASML had a net margin of 27.08% and a return on equity of 47.74%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that ASML will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 29th will be issued a $1.857 dividend. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 29th. This represents a $7.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in ASML by 6.3% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,244,254 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,401,304,000 after acquiring an additional 250,934 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ASML by 26.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 952,385 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $631,079,000 after acquiring an additional 199,740 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of ASML by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 905,708 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $600,175,000 after acquiring an additional 7,164 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 763,590 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $611,933,000 after acquiring an additional 37,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in ASML by 101.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 731,271 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $484,562,000 after purchasing an additional 367,505 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.