ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Should You Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shares shot up 0.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $717.27 and last traded at $710.30. 376,580 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 1,456,878 shares. The stock had previously closed at $705.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ASML shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $943.83.

ASML Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $694.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $835.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $283.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.68, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion for 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%. Equities analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is 29.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 4,379.6% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $910,102,000 after buying an additional 870,010 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ASML by 94,079.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,096,410,000 after acquiring an additional 491,096 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of ASML by 37.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,464,061,000 after acquiring an additional 474,653 shares during the last quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of ASML by 321.2% during the second quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd now owns 202,946 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $207,559,000 after purchasing an additional 154,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of ASML during the third quarter valued at approximately $125,952,000. 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.