ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading 0.8% Higher – Still a Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price was up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $716.35 and last traded at $710.56. Approximately 351,478 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 1,449,695 shares. The stock had previously closed at $705.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ASML shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $943.83.

ASML Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $281.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.20, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.49. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $716.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $854.04.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. Sell-side analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased 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 valued at $910,102,000 after acquiring an additional 870,010 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 94,079.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,096,410,000 after acquiring an additional 491,096 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 37.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,464,061,000 after acquiring an additional 474,653 shares in the last quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 321.2% during the second quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd now owns 202,946 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $207,559,000 after acquiring an additional 154,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of ASML during the third quarter valued at $125,952,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.