ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 0.6%

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price traded up 0.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $810.42 and last traded at $808.05. 190,808 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 1,254,268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $803.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

ASML Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $326.78 billion, a PE ratio of 42.51, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $881.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $942.06.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $1.8732 per share. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in ASML by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,967,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,760,348,000 after buying an additional 95,795 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 572,996 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in ASML by 21.6% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 1,657,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,608,921,000 after purchasing an additional 294,784 shares during the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in ASML by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,617,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,224,002,000 after purchasing an additional 121,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in ASML by 15.4% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,282,396 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,311,545,000 after purchasing an additional 170,992 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.