ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $726.30, but opened at $758.80. ASML shares last traded at $754.24, with a volume of 426,023 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASML has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley cut ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $955.50.

ASML Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $704.98 and a 200 day moving average of $800.97. The company has a market capitalization of $297.56 billion, a PE ratio of 39.60, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 47.61%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of ASML during the third quarter worth $25,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV bought a new position in shares of ASML during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASML during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 46.9% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 47 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 133.3% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 56 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.