ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Up 0.2% – Still a Buy?

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) were up 0.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $839.00 and last traded at $833.68. Approximately 304,314 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 1,250,637 shares. The stock had previously closed at $832.41.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASML has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group cut ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays upgraded ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,110.80.

ASML Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $850.05 and a 200 day moving average of $930.28. The stock has a market cap of $329.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $1.8732 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in ASML by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,899 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,471,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of ASML by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,655,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in ASML by 208.6% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,665,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its stake in ASML by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 12,604 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,540,000 after acquiring an additional 2,627 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in ASML by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 1,508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.