Wells Fargo & Company Cuts ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Price Target to $790.00

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) had its target price reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $1,000.00 to $790.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

ASML has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group downgraded ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,018.00.

ASML Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $723.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $285.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.94, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. ASML has a 52 week low of $573.86 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $834.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $916.12.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released 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 firm had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.37 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ASML will post 20.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be paid a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American International Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 6,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,617,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of ASML by 63.1% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 106 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in shares of ASML by 258.7% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 1,076 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of ASML during the 1st quarter worth about $188,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in ASML by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 794 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 95 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.