ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 1.4%

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price traded up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $772.76 and last traded at $762.11. 692,246 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 1,250,180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $751.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASML has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group cut shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,147.80.

ASML Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $914.20 and a 200-day moving average of $948.40.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. ASML had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 26.50%. The company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.37 earnings per share. ASML’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $1.8732 per share. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. This represents a $7.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is 28.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Resources Management Corp CT ADV acquired a new stake in ASML in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ASML in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WD Rutherford LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in ASML during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA bought a new position in ASML during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.