ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Up 1% – Should You Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shares were up 1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $708.88 and last traded at $707.30. Approximately 255,134 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 669,303 shares. The stock had previously closed at $700.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASML has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded 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, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $943.83.

ASML Stock Up 2.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $281.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $693.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $817.39.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in ASML by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,654,921,000 after acquiring an additional 31,879 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ASML by 3.3% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,855,624,000 after buying an additional 70,776 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 37.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,464,061,000 after buying an additional 474,653 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in ASML by 4,379.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $910,102,000 after buying an additional 870,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in ASML by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $836,300,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085 shares in the last quarter. 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.