ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading 5.2% Higher – Still a Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price was up 5.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $709.90 and last traded at $708.70. Approximately 1,660,960 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 17% from the average daily volume of 1,423,018 shares. The stock had previously closed at $673.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of ASML from $1,052.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group lowered shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $970.60.

ASML Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $760.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $884.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.10, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.77 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in ASML during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV bought a new position in shares of ASML in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in ASML in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in ASML in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. 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.