ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Up 0.8% – Here’s Why

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price was up 0.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $716.35 and last traded at $710.56. Approximately 351,478 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 1,449,695 shares. The stock had previously closed at $705.27.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

ASML Stock Up 0.8 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $711.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $852.09. 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 firm has a market cap of $282.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $1.407 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. ASML’s payout ratio is 29.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in ASML by 1.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,654,921,000 after acquiring an additional 31,879 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,855,624,000 after purchasing an additional 70,776 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of ASML by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,464,061,000 after purchasing an additional 474,653 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 4,379.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $910,102,000 after buying an additional 870,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of ASML by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $836,300,000 after buying an additional 2,085 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is 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.