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

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $673.41, but opened at $705.67. ASML shares last traded at $705.19, with a volume of 976,412 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASML has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on ASML from $1,052.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Susquehanna reduced their price target on 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. Finally, UBS Group cut ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $970.60.

ASML Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $278.36 billion, a PE ratio of 37.10, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $760.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $884.66. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.77 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $1.407 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Resources Management Corp CT ADV bought a new position in ASML in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of ASML in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of ASML in the third quarter worth about $25,000. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in shares of ASML in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ASML in the third quarter worth about $28,000. 26.07% of the stock is 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.