ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Gap Up to $787.84

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $787.84, but opened at $832.67. ASML shares last traded at $830.21, with a volume of 255,511 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASML has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Barclays raised shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,147.80.

ASML Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $870.91 and a 200-day moving average of $939.86. 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 cap of $313.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.62, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.38 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,967,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,760,348,000 after buying an additional 95,795 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in ASML by 50.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,719,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,668,386,000 after buying an additional 572,996 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 21.6% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 1,657,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,608,921,000 after acquiring an additional 294,784 shares during the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,617,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,224,002,000 after purchasing an additional 121,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in ASML by 15.4% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,282,396 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,311,545,000 after acquiring an additional 170,992 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.