ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Up 0.8% – What’s Next?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price shot up 0.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $724.61 and last traded at $724.22. 364,898 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 1,446,358 shares. The stock had previously closed at $718.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 target price for the company. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $943.83.

ASML Trading Up 1.8 %

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 stock has a market capitalization of $289.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.49, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s 50-day moving average is $705.42 and its 200-day moving average is $845.38.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 47.61%. Research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding 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 issued a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.21%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Taurus Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ASML during the third quarter valued at about $16,994,000. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of ASML by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in ASML by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,664,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in ASML by 5.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 140,802 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,323,000 after purchasing an additional 7,010 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in ASML by 104.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.