ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Up 4.6% – Time to Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shot up 4.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $728.46 and last traded at $714.53. 2,745,768 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 45% from the average session volume of 1,900,001 shares. The stock had previously closed at $683.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ASML. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $937.00.

ASML Stock Up 0.3 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $718.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $777.78. The company has a market cap of $290.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a return on equity of 50.53% and a net margin of 26.78%. On average, equities analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 25.07 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $1.6414 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $6.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. This is an increase from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in ASML by 41.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,974 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,019,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in ASML by 5.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 39,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $40,880,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of ASML by 5.7% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 24,692 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the second quarter valued at approximately $16,412,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of ASML by 278.7% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 21,106 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,586,000 after acquiring an additional 15,532 shares during the period. 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.