ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Upgraded by Berenberg Bank to “Strong-Buy”

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) was upgraded by equities researchers at Berenberg Bank to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,185.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group lowered ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. 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. Finally, Barclays raised shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,110.80.

ASML Stock Performance

ASML opened at $832.41 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $328.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.51, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.48. ASML has a 52-week low of $573.86 and a 52-week high of $1,110.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $850.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $930.28.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.50% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The company’s revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.37 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that ASML will post 20.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,899 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,471,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of ASML by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,655,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 208.6% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its stake in ASML by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 12,604 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,540,000 after buying an additional 2,627 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in ASML by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 1,508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,141,000 after buying an additional 58 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.