ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Up 3% – Here’s Why

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price shot up 3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $870.10 and last traded at $866.03. 737,219 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 1,244,585 shares. The stock had previously closed at $840.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASML has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of ASML from $1,202.00 to $1,207.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group downgraded shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,071.80.

ASML Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $844.97 and a 200-day moving average of $923.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $344.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.48.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. ASML had a net margin of 26.50% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.37 EPS. ASML’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KP Management LLC increased its stake in ASML by 66.7% in the 2nd quarter. KP Management LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,114,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Harvard Management Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in ASML by 239.8% in the second quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. now owns 93,519 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $95,645,000 after acquiring an additional 66,000 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 41.1% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,457 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 122.1% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 6,415 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,560,000 after acquiring an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of ASML by 169.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,661,000 after buying an additional 14,682 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.