ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading 0.9% Higher

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price rose 0.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $922.13 and last traded at $915.85. Approximately 343,005 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 1,221,617 shares. The stock had previously closed at $907.71.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASML has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,147.80.

ASML Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market cap of $357.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $961.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $955.61.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. ASML had a net margin of 26.50% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a $1.8732 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $7.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. ASML’s payout ratio is currently 28.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of ASML by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,977,359 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,767,464,000 after buying an additional 105,196 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of ASML by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,719,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,668,386,000 after buying an additional 572,996 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of ASML by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 1,657,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,608,921,000 after buying an additional 294,784 shares during the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of ASML by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,617,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,224,002,000 after buying an additional 121,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of ASML by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,282,396 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,311,545,000 after buying an additional 170,992 shares during the last quarter. 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.