Sanford C. Bernstein Issues Pessimistic Forecast for ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) had its price target cut by Sanford C. Bernstein from $815.00 to $767.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Susquehanna decreased their price target on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group cut ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $961.00.

ASML Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of ASML stock opened at $686.61 on Friday. ASML has a 1 year low of $645.45 and a 1 year high of $1,110.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $732.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $864.88. The company has a market cap of $270.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.95, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that ASML will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Trust raised its stake in shares of ASML by 191.3% in the third quarter. American Trust now owns 1,238 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in shares of ASML by 89.9% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 7,551 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,291,000 after acquiring an additional 3,575 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in ASML by 4.9% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 475 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management grew its stake in ASML by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 27,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,996,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in ASML in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,438,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.