ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) rose 1.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $724.98 and last traded at $721.48. Approximately 511,716 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 1,446,658 shares. The stock had previously closed at $713.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ASML. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. UBS Group lowered shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Berenberg Bank upgraded ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $943.83.

ASML Trading Up 0.8 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $709.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $849.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $282.71 billion, a PE ratio of 37.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities analysts forecast that ASML Holding will post 20.68 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 paid a dividend of $1.407 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Pacific Financial increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.1% in the second quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,121 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders increased its stake in ASML by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,114 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 844 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ASML by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 61 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASML by 23.2% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 69 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 13 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.