ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,147.80.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna raised their price target on ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group cut ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays raised shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th.

ASML Price Performance

ASML stock opened at $795.28 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $870.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $939.21. 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 stock has a market cap of $313.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49. ASML has a 12-month low of $563.99 and a 12-month high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.37 EPS. ASML’s revenue was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ASML will post 20.38 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $1.8732 per share. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $7.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.50%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harvard Management Co. Inc. boosted its position in ASML by 239.8% during the second quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. now owns 93,519 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $95,645,000 after purchasing an additional 66,000 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,457 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 169.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,661,000 after acquiring an additional 14,682 shares during the last quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $761,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of ASML by 25,520.0% in the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 1,281 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.