BNP Paribas Begins Coverage on ASML (NASDAQ:ASML)

BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $858.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group cut ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $943.83.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of ASML stock opened at $718.06 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $728.44 and its 200 day moving average is $861.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $282.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.49. ASML has a twelve month low of $645.45 and a twelve month high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 47.61%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. Research analysts expect that ASML will post 20.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.21%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. American Trust boosted its position in 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 boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 89.9% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 7,551 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,291,000 after buying an additional 3,575 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of ASML by 4.9% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 475 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management increased its holdings in ASML by 0.5% during the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 27,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,996,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in ASML in the third quarter worth approximately $1,438,000. 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.