ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 1.8% – Here’s Why

Shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) were up 1.8% during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $1,563.46 and last traded at $1,534.42. Approximately 1,449,787 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 1,750,897 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,507.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ASML shares. DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Monday, September 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $2,100.00 price target on shares of ASML in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of ASML from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $2,204.71.

ASML Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $576.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.80. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,663.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,602.33.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, September 27th. The semiconductor company reported $14.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. ASML had a net margin of 34.10% and a return on equity of 64.24%. The company had revenue of $13.27 billion during the quarter. Research analysts expect that ASML Holding N.V. will post 46.51 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 27th were paid a dividend of $2.1077 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 27th. This is a negative change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.1507. This represents a $8.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. ASML’s payout ratio is 17.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in ASML by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,839,202 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,767,040,000 after acquiring an additional 101,588 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of ASML by 31.7% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,459,420 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,892,869,000 after acquiring an additional 592,125 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of ASML by 4.9% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,282,190 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,550,840,000 after acquiring an additional 59,888 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 6.3% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,641,565 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,168,227,000 after purchasing an additional 96,860 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,560,256 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,060,833,000 after purchasing an additional 19,051 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Company Profile

ASML Holding N.V. is a Netherlands-based technology company that develops and manufactures equipment used to produce semiconductor chips. Its systems are used by chipmakers to create the intricate patterns that form circuits on silicon wafers. The company’s products include extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography systems, along with metrology and inspection equipment, computational lithography software, and related services. ASML also supports customers with system maintenance, upgrades, and technical assistance.