ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Up 2.2% – What’s Next?

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) were up 2.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $711.96 and last traded at $708.30. Approximately 376,104 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 1,449,344 shares. The stock had previously closed at $693.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASML has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $943.83.

ASML Stock Up 2.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $281.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $693.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $819.09.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,174,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in ASML by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of ASML by 104.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,009 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the period. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,977 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,980,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 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.