ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Up 0.7% – Should You Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shares were up 0.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $717.27 and last traded at $710.30. Approximately 376,580 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 1,456,878 shares. The stock had previously closed at $705.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASML has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley cut shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group downgraded ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target for the company. 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $943.83.

ASML Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $697.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $841.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market cap of $283.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. Equities research analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. ASML’s payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASML. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 844 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $863,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ASML by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 61 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its position in shares of ASML by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of ASML by 5.5% during the second quarter. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC now owns 248 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zimmermann Investment Management & Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of ASML by 6.7% during the second quarter. Zimmermann Investment Management & Planning LLC now owns 224 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.