ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 3.7%

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shot up 3.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $867.21 and last traded at $867.21. 394,257 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 1,231,997 shares. The stock had previously closed at $836.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASML has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays upgraded ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on ASML in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,147.80.

ASML Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $339.56 billion, a PE ratio of 43.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $985.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $952.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. ASML had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 26.50%. The firm had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $1.8732 per share. This is an increase from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.50%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in ASML by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,977,359 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,767,464,000 after acquiring an additional 105,196 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of ASML by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,719,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,668,386,000 after purchasing an additional 572,996 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of ASML by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 1,657,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,608,921,000 after purchasing an additional 294,784 shares during the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in ASML by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,617,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,224,002,000 after buying an additional 121,847 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in ASML by 15.4% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,282,396 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,311,545,000 after buying an additional 170,992 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by 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.