ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 1.9% – Still a Buy?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price traded up 1.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $745.12 and last traded at $736.36. 680,061 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 1,447,998 shares. The stock had previously closed at $722.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ASML. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley downgraded ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $943.83.

ASML Stock Down 1.3 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $702.89 and a 200-day moving average of $844.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $279.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of ASML

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ASML in the second quarter worth $216,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in ASML by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,254 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $10,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASML during the 2nd quarter valued at about $224,000. &PARTNERS lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 139.1% in the 2nd quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 2,867 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,930,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the second quarter worth about $274,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.