ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 1% – Should You Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shares rose 1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $708.88 and last traded at $707.30. Approximately 255,134 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 669,303 shares. The stock had previously closed at $700.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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 on the stock. Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $943.83.

ASML Stock Up 2.2 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $693.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $821.44. The company has a market capitalization of $281.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.47, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted 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. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis 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 Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of ASML by 1.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,654,921,000 after purchasing an additional 31,879 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC increased its position in ASML by 3.3% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,855,624,000 after buying an additional 70,776 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 37.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,464,061,000 after acquiring an additional 474,653 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of ASML by 4,379.6% in 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in ASML by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $836,300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.