ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Up 5.1%

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price traded up 5.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $834.00 and last traded at $827.97. 589,941 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 1,253,100 shares. The stock had previously closed at $787.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays upgraded ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ASML currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,147.80.

ASML Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $313.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.62, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $870.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $939.86.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. ASML had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 26.50%. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $1.8732 per share. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harvard Management Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 239.8% during the second quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. now owns 93,519 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $95,645,000 after purchasing an additional 66,000 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in ASML by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,457 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 169.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,661,000 after acquiring an additional 14,682 shares during the last quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the fourth quarter worth approximately $761,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 25,520.0% during the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 1,281 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. 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.