ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 2.9% - Still a Buy?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered ASML from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $943.83.

ASML Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $283.06 billion, a PE ratio of 37.67, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $705.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $845.38.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 47.61%. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.66 billion. Research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASML. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in ASML by 4,379.6% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 94,079.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 491,618 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,096,410,000 after buying an additional 491,096 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in ASML by 37.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Tairen Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 321.2% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of ASML during the third quarter worth $125,952,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.