ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 0.8% - Time to Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) rose 0.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $724.61 and last traded at $724.22. Approximately 364,898 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 1,446,358 shares. The stock had previously closed at $718.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on ASML shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered ASML from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas began 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. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $943.83.

ASML Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $284.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.82, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $707.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $846.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders 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 (DPR) is currently 29.21%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV acquired a new position in ASML in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ASML during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.