ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Coverage Initiated at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $858.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lowered shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $943.83.

ASML Price Performance

NASDAQ ASML opened at $711.50 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $723.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $859.93. ASML has a 52-week low of $645.45 and a 52-week high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. Equities research analysts predict that ASML will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of ASML

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 4,379.6% during the second 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 during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in ASML by 94,079.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,096,410,000 after purchasing an additional 491,096 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in 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 period. Tairen Capital Ltd grew its position in ASML by 321.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd now owns 202,946 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $207,559,000 after purchasing an additional 154,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter worth about $125,952,000. Institutional investors 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.