ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading 2.9% Higher – Still a Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price shot up 2.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $757.19 and last traded at $756.43. 519,654 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 1,448,622 shares. The stock had previously closed at $735.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASML has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group cut shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $943.83.

ASML Stock Up 1.3 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $705.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $845.38. 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 stock has a market cap of $292.98 billion, a PE ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.407 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. ASML’s payout ratio is 29.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lantz Financial LLC purchased a new position in ASML during the 2nd quarter worth $216,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of ASML by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,254 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in ASML by 261.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in ASML by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,564 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,759,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASML in the second quarter worth $224,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.