ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Gap Up to $751.38

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $751.38, but opened at $770.03. ASML shares last traded at $762.34, with a volume of 458,650 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ASML shares. Susquehanna raised their target price on ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group downgraded ASML from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays raised shares of ASML from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,147.80.

ASML Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $315.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.49. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $914.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $948.40.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 26.50%. ASML's revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a $1.8732 dividend. This represents a $7.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This is a positive change from ASML's previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. ASML's payout ratio is presently 28.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 41.1% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,457 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in ASML by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in ASML by 169.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,351 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $22,661,000 after purchasing an additional 14,682 shares during the last quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. acquired a new stake in ASML during the 4th quarter worth $761,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 25,520.0% during the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 1,281 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,243,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares in the last quarter. 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.